Energy Saving Tips
We are all personally responsible the the amount of energy we use in our homes. Whether you are a homeowner, private owner or a social renter or even a student, there are many things you can do to reduce how much you spend on your monthly electric bill.
Understanding Your Electric Bill
The information that is given to you on a typical electric bill can come across rather confusing. But understanding your bill can go a long way to saving you a lot of money each month. Electric bills generally contain lots of useful information, although bills from each energy supplier will look different they should all contain the following information. Your name and address, the name of your energy supplier, a customer reference or account number, what tariff you are currently on for your electricity. The tariff is the price you pay for per unit for electricity along with any standing charge.
Tariffs are identified by their name which can be found on your bill, examples in good standard or fixed price and also this will include the fixed price tariff comparison rate, also included will be the amount of electricity you have used within the last year, the serial numbers for your electricity meter will be included along with a record of the electricity readings used to calculate how many units of energy you have used and the amount of money you are due to your energy supplier and a breakdown of the charges, it is vital you check all the serial and account numbers match up with your electrical meter, your serial number can either be found on a electric bill or you can phone your supplier to check that the serial number is the same one on the meter. By understanding your electric bill you will be able to see in which area’s you can save money and cut down on costs.
Switch Off – Not Standby
By just turning off your appliances completely from the plug and not leaving them on standby mode you can save yourself as much as £30 per year. Almost all of your electric appliances can be switched off at the plug and it will not upset their programming, or you can invest in a standby saver which allows you to turn all your appliances off standby in one go. Check the instructions for any appliance that you are not too sure about switching off all together. Some satellite and digital TV recorders may need to be left plugged in so they can keep track of any programmes or TV shows you may wish to record.
Careful In The Kitchen
You can save up to £50 a year when you use your kitchen electronics more carefully:
• Use a bowl to wash up rather than a running tap and save £30 a year in energy bills.
• Only fill the kettle with the amount of water that you need and save around £7 a year.
• Cutback your washing machine use by just one cycle per week and save £5 a year on energy, and a further £8 a year on metered water bills.
Get A New Shower Head
If you have a shower that takes hot water from your boiler or hot water tank (rather than an electric shower), fit a water efficient shower head. That way you still get the effect of a powerful water supply yet you are using a lot less water. A water efficient shower head could save a four person household (eg a family of four or even a shared student flat) around £67 a year on gas for water heating, as well as a further £100 on water bills if they have a water meter.
This Calculation is based upon the assumption that the family takes just under 20 showers a week and replaces a 13 litre/minute power-shower head with a 7.7 litre / min water efficient shower head, and the family are charged £3.01 per cubic meter of water used (includes sewage charge).
Spend Less Time In The Shower
Simply spending one minute less in the shower each day will save £10 off your energy bills each year, per person. With a water meter this will save a further £15 off annual water and sewerage bills. If everyone in a four person family did this it would lead to a total saving of £100 a year.