Simple Energy Saving Tips
Easy ways to cut fuel bills
Appliances:
Try not to leave your television or computer on standby.
Televisions in Britain alone waste £116* million worth of electricity each year just waiting to be switched on.
Across the UK, mobile phone chargers left plugged in waste over £60 million of electricity and are responsible for a quarter of a million tonnes of CO2 every year.
If the weather if fine, you could hang clothes outside to dry (or on a drying rack indoors).
If using a tumble dryer, spin dry clothes first.
If everyone boiled only the water they needed to make a cup of tea instead of filling the kettle every time, we could save enough electricity in a year to run nearly half of the street lighting in the country.
Use the washing machine when you have a full load and choose 30°C cycles — this will save you 40% compared with a 60°C wash.
Lighting:
Replace your light bulbs with energy efficient ones — each one can reduce your lighting costs by up to £100 over the lifetime of the bulb, and they last up to 12 times longer than ordinary light bulbs.*
In most homes, lighting accounts for 10-15% of electricity bills. Reduce this by turning off lights when you leave a room.
Heat loss prevention:
Close your curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping through the windows.
You could reduce your heating bills by turning your heating down rather than opening windows to reduce the room temperature.
With the right controls fitted to your central heating system, you could save up to 40% on your fuel bill — that’s about £190-£240 off the average bill.
Other:
Showers are more energy efficient than baths. In fact, you can have up to five 5-minute showers for the cost of one bath — saving water as well as energy.
A dripping hot tap wastes enough hot water in a week to fill half a bath, so fix leaking taps and make sure they’re fully turned off.
When cooking, put a lid on the pans you’re using — this will keep all that valuable heat inside and also cut down on condensation. Add just enough water to cover your vegetables or pasta to save even more energy.
Wait for cooked food to cool before putting it in the fridge or freezer.
Source: Energy Saving Trust 2007 http://www.npower.com/At_home/Go_green/Energy_savings/Appliances.html
