What is your New Year’s Resolution for 2020? For some, it might be to get a better grip of their finances and save money, which they could well do by being more efficient at home and wasting less energy.
According to the energy market regulator Ofgem, the average dual fuel variable tariff as of April 2019 is £104.50 per month, or £1,254 a year.
Your energy bill could be much lower than that by being more energy-savvy, something that Big Energy Saving Week seeks to highlight.
Commencing on Monday 20 January 2020, it’s a national campaign to help people cut their energy bills and get all the financial support they are entitled to.
However, Hazlemere can give you a head start on saving energy by offering 5 of our own best energy-saving tips:
- Switch energy supplier
It’s a bad habit of Britons that we simply don’t switch energy supplier, believing that it will be hard work, when it couldn’t be easier.
Energy bills have been simplified in recent years. Just get your most recent bill and visit one of the many different energy comparison sites to help find a cheaper energy package elsewhere.
After agreeing to a new tariff with a new supplier, they will contact your existing supplier to organise the switchover.
First-time switchers can save a fortune, and even regular switchers can often find a cheaper deal.
- Stop unnecessarily boiling your kettle
The National Grid will often report a huge electricity surge when millions of householders go to boil their kettles in the middle of a big sporting event, such as the FIFA World Cup.
It requires a good amount of energy to boil a kettle (costing roughly around 2.5 pence), so what you shouldn’t do is boil it when you don’t need to.
Another good tip is to only fill the kettle with as much water as you need, rather than overfill it and force the kettle to boil for longer than necessary.
- Unplug your chargers for mobile devices
Ofcom has found that 38% of UK households have two mobile phones, and the average British house also has laptops and various other mobile devices that need regular charging.
When charging your own mobile devices, make sure that you either remove the plug or hit the off switch on the wall as soon as the battery reaches 100%. Leaving it in will both drain the battery, and according to the Energy Saving Trust, waste around £30 a year.
- Keep your finger away from that standby button
Leaving certain pieces of tech on standby will also cost you money, with the biggest culprit being digital TV boxes (£25.91 source: MoneySuperMarket).
There’s no reason to do it nowadays as any recordings you miss can usually always be found on catch-up and downloaded from e.g. BBC iPlayer.
- Install energy efficient windows and doors
Forget about trying to draughtproof any old windows and doors that you know are failing to keep out the cold and letting warm air from inside escape. It will have minimal effect.
You’d be much better having energy efficient windows and doors installed by a company like Hazlemere, particularly because our windows and doors have an impressive energy rating.
To fully maximise your energy and money savings, get our triple glazing fitted.