Five Ways to Cut Your Energy Costs
With energy prices expected to soar in the UK, thanks to a new energy strategy the government recently announced, you might be wondering what you can do to cut energy costs at home. Fortunately, there are some practical steps you can take to give your wallet a break, and none of them involve serious renovations.
Here are five fuss-free ways you can save on your energy bill starting now.
Switch to LED Lightbulbs
Incandescent light bulbs are one of the most widely used light bulbs, and for good reason: they’re cheap and offer great lighting. However, they also use up quite a bit of energy to turn on and stay on.
Enter the LED light bulb. This type of light bulb is designed to use far less energy than incandescent light bulbs, and while they might cost more, they’ll end up thinning out your energy bill since they need less energy to turn on and stay on.
Unplug Appliances and Electronics When Not in Use
Energy vampires are appliances and other electronic devices that continue to zap energy even when they’re not actively being used. Simply by being plugged into a wall outlet, these devices can slowly add to your energy costs over time.
Examples of energy vampires include microwaves, television sets, devices that are activated with a remote (like an air conditioning unit) and phone chargers. These devices can be unplugged from a wall socket when they’re not in use.
Properly Insulate Your Home
It costs more money to heat and cool a home that’s not properly insulated. If there are too many drafts in your house, for example, it will take your thermostat more time to raise your house’s temperature to a comfortable level, which costs more energy.
You’ll be glad to know that no major renovations are needed to properly insulate your home. Spray foam can be bought and used to fill up cracks in your walls, especially in your attic, while caulking can seal up the small spaces around the edges of your windows and doors.
Give Smart Home Devices a Try
New technologies are designed to make your life easier. Smart home devices are no different, with the added benefit that they could also save you on energy costs in the longrun.
Smart thermostats, for example, can continuously gauge the temperature in your home even when you’re away, and can accordingly adjust the temperature so you don’t end up wasting money on insufficient heating and cooling.
Upgrade Old Appliances
Finally, older and more outdated appliances could be sapping far more energy than you’d think. Maybe you’re attached to that electric kettle or that oven you’ve had for years, or maybe you don’t want to spend money to replace your appliances, but the fact is that investing in a newer (and more energy-efficient) model could save you energy costs in the long run.
We hope these five tips can help you save on your energy bills going forward. If you’re looking to upgrade your old appliances, do browse our wide selection before you go.
Until next time…