Energy saving tips

Check out your carbon footprint!

Everyone likes to save money! By following these energy and water saving tips you could save up to a £100 or more on your bills and help reduce impact on the environment.

The tips have been split into three sections, energy, heating and hot water bills and water.

Power saving tips

• Use energy saving light bulbs. These may cost more, but they use far less electricity than normal bulbs, saving you money in the long run.
• Only boil the amount of water you really need.
• Switch all electrical appliances off at the plug instead of using the 'standby' function. During standby the appliances are still using electricity, and astonishingly, this accounts for 6% of all electricity usage in the home.
• Defrost your fridge and freezer regularly to keep them running efficiently and cheaply - if they frost up quickly, check the door seal.
• Consider buying a Savaplug. These replace the usual plug at the back of the fridge and will cut energy use from the appliance by 20%.
• When using washing machines and tumble dryers always wash a full load or use a half-load or economy programme.
• Try not to use a tumble dryer unless absolutely necessary.
• Turn your microwave off at the wall when not in use.
• Don't waste energy when using computers. Make use of power saving modes, turn off peripherals when they're not in use and make sure you switch everything off completely when you are finished.

Heating and hot water tips

• Insulating your loft could save you up to £145 per year and cavity wall insulation could save a further £110 or more. Talk to your Housing Officer and see if this can be done for your house.
• In Winter close your curtains at night to stop heat escaping.
• Fit aluminium foil or reflective panels behind radiators. This reflects heat back into the room rather than the walls absorbing and losing the heat.
• Stop draughts by attaching an easy-to-fix brush or PVC seal to your exterior doors. Fill gaps between floorboards & skirting boards with beading, sealant or newspaper.
• Too warm? Why not turn the room thermostat down by 1°C and it could cut your heating bills by up to 10%.
• The sun is the most readily available source of heat there is - and the cheapest
• Hot water pipes can be insulated to stop heat escaping from them to good effect. The best pipes to insulate are the ones between the boiler and hot water cylinder. Cost is around £1 per metre. Saving is around £10 per year.
• If you have an old central heating system, consider having the radiators flushed to increase efficiency and reduce fuel bills.

Water saving tips

• Turn off the tap while cleaning your teeth and you can save thousands of litres of water every year.
• Put a Hippo in your toilet cistern. Hippo the Water Saver is the simple, proven and low cost water saving device to help conserve water in toilet cisterns. Every time a toilet is flushed the Hippo saves approximately 3 litres of water. If not that place a brick in the cistern, it does almost as well.
• Dripping taps can waste up to 4 litres of water a day so make sure you replace worn tap washers.