Aren’t we all looking for a way of cutting down the bills? And with the ever-rising cost of living, there’s no denying that a drop in your monthly bill by as little as 5 percent will make life a lot easier.
Fortunately for you, here are some of the most effective ways of saving energy and cutting down the bills.
Saving money on heating
You can save as much as £79 annually by turning the thermostat down one degree Celsius. Imagine how much money you could save if you turned down the thermostat by 3 degrees on all the heating and the air conditioning units in your home, including the hot water system? Besides turning down the thermostat, you might want to keep the heat at a constant low rather than switching the heater from high to low all the time.It also pays to pile up on throw pillows as well as jumpers, socks, as well as slippers because you won’t need a heater. Remember that the high energy bills you are incurring could be avoided if you opted for other warming remedies.
The other effective heating and energy saving solution involves turning off the heaters when you go to bed. You could also use a hot water bottle or an electric blanket for just a few minutes allowing your body and flannel sheets to feel nice and warm even when the room is cold.
Consider using timers for your central heating system, block out the draughts, and insulate the whole house.
Turning down the pressure on the power shower
Though luxurious, the power shower takes up a lot of energy. You might, therefore, want to lower the pressure or install a different kind of shower. You should also buy Energy-Star rated appliances.
Saving energy using the dishwasher
The dishwasher makes life easy, but if you choose to pre-rinse the dishes with hot water, then you are using more energy than necessary. So, skip the hot water pre-rinse by scraping off the dishes before you clean them.
Also, don’t rinse before loading it up to save water, load it to maximum, dry your dishes naturally and try using a rinse aid instead of the heated-dry cycle if you have to machine dry them. You also want to wash your dishes during off-peak hours and use the delay option and finally, run the dishwasher in the dark.
Increase the washing machine’s energy efficiency
Regarding the washing machine, you might want to stick to cold water and if you have to use hot water, wash the clothes at 30-40degrees. Also, try air-drying laundry and save time by ironing the clothes before they are too dry. Also, the front-load machines save more energy than the to-load washing machines.
You might also want to pre-soak the stained clothes and wait until you have a full load. It’s also recommended to run your machine on its shortest cycle, reduce the weekly loads, and switch off the power at the wall and unplug it when it’s not in use.
Keep the freezer and fridge full
Did you know that you save more energy by keeping your fridge and freezer full, all the time? You shouldn’t however, overfill the fridge or the freezer so that you don’t interfere with air circulation.
You should also minimize the number of times you open the doors, keep it away from heat sources, and avoid blocking the air-flow passages from and to the condenser coils.
You also want to buy an energy-efficient fridge that uses hydrocarbons as the refrigerant/ blowing agent for its insulation foam.
Finally, you should defrost and manually defrost the freezer regularly.
