How To Save Money On Your Home Energy Bills
UK Households should expect a further sharp increase in their home energy costs in October 2022, with price increases forecast to rise by 46%. As a result, the average annual energy bill could increase to £2,880 from £1,971. That’s an additional £76 per month. As such, It’s time everyone starts looking into ways of saving money on their home energy bills before October.
Why are energy bills on the rise?
Due to supply problems and the conflict in Ukraine, the wholesale cost of fuel has risen sharply in the UK, and countries across the world in the last 6 months. Due to the rise in wholesale costs, this is then passed on to consumers in the form of higher energy bills.
The energy price cap restricts how much a distributor can charge for fallback tariffs and is evaluated twice a year by the regulator. The purpose is to protect customers from significant price increases whilst also reflecting changes in wholesale energy costs. You can see how this affects you here.
After the minimum price was increased by 54 per cent in April 2022, households have already seen a significant increase in their bills, with the average annual energy bill now at £1,971 per annum. Because of this, consumers in the UK are extremely worried as energy prices continue to skyrocket. One of the ways consumers can caution themselves against high energy prices is by using energy more efficiently. But how does one do this at home efficiently without impacting the way they live and the comfort of their home? Here are some of the tips to help save money on energy at home.
Tips For Saving Money On Your Home Energy Bills
Switch to a cheaper energy tariff
You may also want to consider switching to a cheaper energy supplier and tariff. There are lots of comparison websites that can help you find the best deals out there. You should ensure that you read the fine print so that you understand all the terms and conditions before making a switch. You should also consider a capped rate and work out if this will be better for you in the long run, it may seem more expensive, however, consider the increases in costs that are planned in October of this year and April next year.
Review your energy bills
First and foremost, if you want to save money on your energy bills, one of the best things you can do is review them regularly. Look at how much energy you’re using and compare it to past months or years. This will help you identify any areas where you may be able to cut back.
Request a Smart Meter for your home
Installing a smart meter in your home doesn’t save you money, however, it means you have the information available to you on a daily and hourly basis as to the energy you are using. Keep the smart meter in view and you can see the cost of your energy by day and MTD and see how it increases as you use different appliances in your home. This enables you to make smart decisions about what you can reduce. As an example, reboiling a kettle uses additional electricity which isn’t required, only boil the water you need, and put a lid on a saucepan when you are cooking so it reaches the desired temperature more quickly. These may seem like really small changes, however, these and other small changes will make a difference to your monthly energy bills.
You can find out how installing a smart meter can help you to reduce your energy usage in our informative article here.
Choose energy-efficient appliances
Using energy-efficient appliances can help reduce your home’s energy consumption quite significantly. Newer and more efficient appliances use less energy, which can help lower your overall monthly costs. Look for the energy star label when making any new purchases for your home and if you are running multiple fridges or freezers then look at how you could reduce that to one or two appliances. Also, consider how often you use your tumble dryer and if there are other options such as a heated air dryer which cost far less to run. We also think that hanging washing out in the winter isn’t beneficial, however, if you hang it out in daylight and bring it back in before dusk it will often be dry or nearly dry and only need finishing off inside, as well as the added benefit of it smelling lovely and fresh from the outside air.
How much money can you save each year by using energy-efficient appliances?
-
- Fridge Freezer – £138
- Washing machine – £69
- Dishwasher – £44
- Built-in oven – £37
- Tumble dryer – £137
Research has shown that replacing inefficient energy kitchen appliances with more energy-efficient models could save you up to £425 per year. If you don’t know the energy efficiency of an appliance use your Smart Meter to monitor your usage and this will help you understand if there is a better option available to you.
Replace light bulbs with more energy-efficient bulbs
Installing new, energy-efficient light bulbs is another tried and tested way of saving money on your energy bills. These bulbs use less power and can help lower your monthly costs and they will last longer, without the need to be replaced quickly. Power fluorescent bulbs can help you save money on your utility bills.
The annual cost of running an LED light bulb is around £1.71. When compared to an old-style bulb, it could save you around £180 in energy costs over its lifetime. Keep in mind that power light bulbs last longer than normal light bulbs.
Another small but significant way to reduce your energy usage is to ensure you switch lights off in your home when you’re not in a room or when they’re not needed. Talk to your family about this and ensure they understand the impact it can have. Remember to open your blinds and curtains in the daylight rather than turn on a light.
Replace your boiler
Every year, your heating bill accounts for over half of your total energy costs. Although replacing an old and inefficient gas boiler with a modern, energy-efficient one will cost you money in the first instance it will save you a lot of money in the long run. If you replace an old G-rated gas boiler with a new A-rated condensing boiler with a programmed thermostat and thermostatic radiator valves, you could save £195 per year (as per the Energy Saving Trust) this is the cost of a typical semi. You could save up to £300 if you live in a detached house. Replacing your boiler will also help towards reducing your home’s carbon emissions.
The Energy Saving Trust says:
If we are to reach the net zero carbon emissions target set by the UK Government, we will need to reduce the carbon emissions from heating our homes by 95% over the next 30 years.
To put this into perspective, the average household generated 2,690kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) from space heating and hot water heating in 2020. By 2050, we need to reduce this to just 140kg per household.
Use eco settings on your thermostat
Using the eco setting on your thermostat is another viable way of saving energy. This will help regulate the temperature in your home and prevent you from wasting energy. Turning down your thermostat can also help a lot in reducing your energy costs. In addition to this, the temperature outside changes daily and we should change our thermostat settings in our homes daily to counter this. Give it a try and see how you get on.
Add insulation to your home
Adding insulation to your roof space and walls in your home is another effective way to save a significant amount of money on your energy bills. This will help keep heat in during the winter and cool air in during the summer.
In a conventional three-bed home, laying roof insulation to a surface area of 270micrometres could save £135 per year on energy bills because less heat is lost through the roof. Also, thermal insulating cavity walls could save up to £155 per year for a semi-detached residence. Although much more expensive to install, solid-wall insulation can save you £210 in the very same type of house.
Unplug your chargers & switch of plugs
Another way to save money on your electricity at home is to unplug all your chargers and turn off everything you can when you’re not using them. This includes phone chargers, computer chargers, sky boxes, TVs and anything else you have around the house. They will still draw power from the outlet even if they’re not in use so be sure to unplug them when you’re finished using them.
Use your microwave more
Microwaves use less energy than ovens so they’re an excellent option for cooking. When you use your oven you have to turn it on for 20-30 minutes to get it to the right temperature before you start, so anything you can cook using a microwave is a better option. Also, research halogen ovens and air fryers and look at their energy usage as often it will be much less than using your full oven.
Update your heating system
Updating your heating system is a great way to save energy and money. Heating systems can account for a large portion of your energy bill, so it’s essential to ensure yours is as efficient as possible. Ask your boiler company to come out to your home and conduct an efficiency assessment and they will tell you if there are areas you could improve the efficiency of your home. Sometimes just flushing your boiler, pipes and radiators can result in improved energy efficiency and they will be ankle to do this for you. Contact Total Boiler Services today at 02922 407934 and we can arrange an energy assessment for your home.
How likely is it that energy prices will rise in 2022?
Unfortunately, all our energy bills are likely to see a sharp rise in October this year unless you are on a capped tariff with your supplier. We are still waiting to hear the plans from the government of how they will support households with these dramatic rises and this is causing a huge amount of uncertainty and anxiousness for many households.
The conflict in Ukraine and punitive measures against Russia are increasing the pressure on the oil and gas market which Russia dominates as an oil and gas exporting country and this is unlikely to end in the short term.
According to Ofgem, the energy price cap will rise by 42 per cent in October 2022 and is likely to cost households an average of £2,8000 per year and an average of an additional £76 per month which most households in the UK will struggle to pay.
As such, you should start looking at ways and implementing change to ensure you reduce your energy usage before the increases in October and April 2023.
If you would like a heating assessment for your property, contact Total Boiler Services today at 02922 407934 and we can answer any questions you may have and arrange a time and date for one of our engineers to come out to you.
