10 Energy Saving Tips You Could Use This Winter

Winter is around the corner. With millions of people still working from home, you may be thinking about the kind of impact your heater usage might have on your electricity bills and your carbon footprint.

Here are a few energy saving tips you could use to reduce the energy consumption at your home this winter:

Try Professional Draught-Proofing

You may not have noticed yet. But if you observe closely, you will see at least a few draughty spots around your windows and doors. You may even find some gaps in the floor or up your chimney. These can be easily fixed through professional draught-proofing. Although it might cost you some money, it will definitely help you save on your energy bills for years to come. Don’t forget to get a chimney draught excluder installed.

Get Your Heating Controls Upgraded

Heating water consumes more than half of your energy bill. Try installing or upgrading your heating controls. You don’t have to replace your boiler. You can also think of getting a room thermostat installed, along with thermostatic radiator valves and a programmer. You can even install a smart meter that will tell you how much energy you have been consuming. Getting a solar system installed might help if you live in an area that receives abundant sunlight. Get in touch with a few solar system providers through solar live transfer leads, and find out how much of energy you can save through solar installation.

Turn down your thermostat

Your room’s thermostat stops your home from getting too warm. If you are setting your thermostat to a low comfortable temperature such as 19 or 20 degrees Celsius, it will turn on automatically when the room’s temperature falls below this. Once your room heats up to the temperature you have set, it will automatically turn off. Nevertheless, you can save more on your heating bill by turning down your room’s thermostat just by one more degree.

Replace Your Boiler if Need Be

If it has been more than 10 years since you got your boiler installed, it might be time to replace with a more efficient one. You get energy efficient boilers these days that can save you a lot on your energy bills. How much you need to spend on this depends on the type of boiler you have. There are steam boilers, hot water boilers, natural gas boilers, electric boilers, oil boilers, and condensing boilers to choose from. Find out how energy-efficient each of these are and identify the cost of installation and maintenance before purchasing one.

Consider Insulation

Heating up your home is one thing; but have you ever thought of a way to preserve this heat for longer? Unless you have insulated your walls you can be assured that at least one third of the heat is getting escaped through the gaps in your walls. Proper insulation is a must to preserve the heat in your home and cut down your energy bills.

In case you are living in a ground floor flat, an independent house, or a bungalow, you may want to insulate the bottom of your home too. Even if it does cost you a bit, you should consider insulating your entire house including your floorboards, your walls, and your roof or loft space. This way you can reduce the loss of heat and therefore your energy consumption.

Keep your Water Hotter by Insulating your Pipes

Apart from insulating your walls and roof, you should also consider insulating the pipes in your home so that they can keep the water hotter for longer. This way you won’t have to turn on your water heater again and again. All that you need to do is get a foam tube from a DIY hardware store and then slip it in between the pipes of your boiler and hot water cylinder. Make sure you get the right size. You may want to call a professional to do this for you, if you are unable to reach your pipes.

Fix Reflector Panels Behind Your Radiator

Another way to lower your energy consumption is to install radiator reflector panels. You need to fix these on your external walls behind your radiators so that the heat from your radiator can get reflected back into your room.

Switch Off Your Appliances When Not in Use

Adapting the habit of turning off your appliances is a great way to reduce your energy consumption. Instead of leaving them on standby mode, you have to turn them off at the plug without changing their settings. You can do this to almost all of the electronic and electrical appliances you might be using, except for those that use ‘smart’ technologies (such as your heating controls and smart speakers).

Switch Over to LED Lighting

If you haven’t still switched over to LED lights, it might be time to do so. These are energy efficient lights that can help save a lot on your energy bills. You can get LEDs in different sizes, shapes, and fittings. In fact, you can replace all your bulbs with LEDs. Nevertheless, make sure you turn them off when they are not in use. This way you can save even more on your energy bills.

Use Water Wisely

The usage of water is also considered as energy usage. Energy is required to treat and pump water into your house and it is energy that helps you heat water at home. You can save a lot on your energy as well as water consumption by reducing wastage of water.

You can save water by following the tips given below:

• Take a short shower instead of taking a long bath
• Get a more efficient shower head installed
• If you can, use cold water to shower instead of heating the water
• Make sure your dishwashers and washing machines are full before you turn them on
• Keep a washing up bowl to clean your dishes
• Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth

The Bottom Line

Technology has made it very easy to make your home more energy efficient. All that you need to do is find out what works for you and get it installed to save on your energy consumption.

Author writes for Heritus. A mortgage live transfers generation company in New York, US.