5 Ways to Save on your Energy Bills

The cost of living has risen starkly over the last few years, thanks to soaring gas prices and general inflation. The geopolitical situation is likely to prevent a reduction in costs any time soon – and thus anything that can be done to safeguard your home against rising energy prices is worth doing.

Fortunately, there are a few small steps we might take to lessen the blow, and to make life that little bit more bearable. While winter might be drawing to a close, the next one will be with us before we know it. Making changes now is therefore highly advisable.

But what, exactly, might those changes look like? Let’s take a look.

Update your heating system

If your heating system is more than a decade old, you might benefit considerably from swapping it to a new, more efficient combi-boiler. While the cost of a boiler can be considerable, it’s nothing in comparison to the cost of gas over time – especially with today’s high prices. Modern combi boilers do the job of both a hot water tank and a boiler; they’re especially suited to smaller homes. New radiators can also make a big difference.

Switch to LED bulbs

LED bulbs tend to be vastly more efficient than older halogen ones. A replacement therefore tends to pay for itself within a few months, if not sooner – following which you’ll be more resistant to fluctuations in energy prices.

Wash Clothes at a Lower Temperature

Often, we wash our clothes at a far higher temperature than necessary. Those extra few degrees are disproportionately expensive, since it’s more difficult to heat water from 30°C to 40°C than it is to heat it from 20°C to 30°C. Turn the dial down, therefore, and you could save considerably in the long term – and without compromising on the state of your laundry.

Draught-proof your home

When cold air gets into your home, you’ll have to pay to heat it up. Conversely, when heat leaves your home, you can’t get it back. Plugging up all of the cracks and gaps in the fabric of your property is therefore critical. Particularly problematic may be the gaps around the edges of doors, and the cracks around older window-frames.

Use a Smart Meter

A smart meter will tell you exactly how much energy you’re using, thereby allowing you to make more informed decisions about how to reduce your consumption. It’ll also report your activity back to the grid, allowing the energy companies to manage supply according to demand, and (theoretically) to drive prices down for everyone.

While the difference that many of these steps might be negligible in the grand scheme of things, when you add them together they can make a real difference that, in the long term, almost always justifies the cost.