Households are going to feel the squeeze over the coming months, so here are a few suggestions to help your pocket (and the environment!). Some are small and others are bigger, but all of them are definitely worth thinking about.
When you turn the heating on, lots of energy is lost through the wall and to the street outside. Radiator reflectors push up to 95% of that wastage back into the room. They’re cheap and easy to fit behind wall mounted radiators - all you’ll need is a pair of scissors and a measuring tape.
Annoyingly, about 75% of energy used by household electronics is consumed when they’re switched off. This wastage is known as ‘phantom’ or ‘vampire’ loads and costs you around £140 every year. Yikes.
Enter the smart power strip. They cleverly stop power to devices when they aren’t in use. You can set them to turn off at certain times, during inactivity, via remote switches or following the lead of a ‘master’ device.
About 15% of your electricity bill is spent on lighting. Old school light bulbs pass electricity through the filament, getting so hot they glow. Only 10% of the energy they use creates light, the other 90% is wasted as heat - a pretty poor performance.
In a light emitting diode (an LED), electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing photons… Lost? Same. Put simply, more of the energy they use turns into light. LEDs are a triple threat - they save waste, lower your electricity bills and last up to twenty times longer.
Dimmers and motion detectors are also something to think about. Take a look at this article for a look at all things lighting related.
Old boilers can operate at under 60% efficiency. It wastes the rest of the energy on running itself.
Almost all modern boilers are ‘condensing’. They use any wasted heat to pre-heat the heating system - that’s a lot of heat. Out of the box, they’re over 90% efficient but make sure you have it installed by a pro because a bad job can result in no benefit.
An energy rating is a simple way of knowing how efficient an appliance is. Bear these in mind when shopping for white goods. The lowest rating is G and the highest is A+++. In shops they’ll be colour coded, but online you may have to dig around in the product description.
As well as looking at things that directly impact your energy bills, take a look at your mortgage options. Read up on our tips for each scenario, and speak to a broker today.
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