Top 10 energy saving tips

Unless your home is a new build, you’ll lose some heat through draughts: 

• around doors and windows 
• through gaps around the floor 
• through the chimney 

Getting professional draught-proofing for your windows and doors can save you around £80 in GB and £95 in NI. Professional draught-proofing can cost around £250, but DIY draught proofing can be much cheaper. 

Keeping your shower time to just four minutes could save you £60 a year in GB and £65 in NI on your energy bills. If you need some help sticking to that time, we have a list of four-minute shower songs on our water saving tips blog. 

Avoid using a tumble dryer for your clothes. Line drying your clothes in warmer weather, or on racks inside the house, can save you £50 a year in GB and £60 in NI. 

You can save around £45 a year in GB and £55 in NI just by remembering to turn your appliances off standby mode. 

You can turn almost all electrical appliances off at the plug without upsetting their programming. You can also buy standby savers, which let you turn all your appliances off standby in one go to save electricity. 

Check the instructions for any appliances you aren’t sure about. You may need to leave some satellite and digital TV recorders plugged in so they can track any programmes you want to record. Also remember that some appliances, like fridges and freezers, need to be on all the time. 

Find out which appliances use the most electricity in your home. 

If you have a loose 25mm jacket, why not top it up with a British Standard Jacket (80mm thick)? Doing this will help you save £40 a year in GB and £45 in NI. 

Insulating your water tank, pipes and radiators is a quick and easy way to save money on your energy bills. 

Kettles are one of the most used appliances in the kitchen, especially during big TV and sports events. But many people often boil the kettle with more water than they need. 

Avoid overfilling the kettle and you can save yourself £10 a year in GB and £12 in NI on your electricity bill. 

You should also think about fitting an aerator onto your kitchen tap. An aerator is a small gadget with tiny holes that attaches to the spout of your tap. This reduces the amount of water coming out without affecting how it washes or rinses. It’s relatively cheap, easy to install and could save you £19 a year in GB and £20 in NI. 

Save £24 a year in GB and £30 in NI on your electricity bill by making small changes in how you use your washing machine: 

• Wash your clothes on a 30°C cycle instead of higher temperatures. 
• Reduce your washing machine use by one run per week for a year. 

Only run your dishwasher when it’s full so you don’t have to run it as often. Reducing your dishwasher use by one run per week for a year could save you £12 a year in GB and £15 in NI. 

Swapping one bath a week to a four-minute shower could save you £9 a year in GB and £10 in NI.

Find out how saving water at home can help your energy bills and the environment. 

Turn your lights off when you’re not using them or when you leave a room. This saves you around £7 a year in GB and £9 in NI on your energy bills. 

Also, replacing all the lights in your home with LED bulbs could help you save even more.