Small changes can make a big difference
Phoenix leaseholder and Energy Champion, Sharon O’Connor, provides free energy advice at the Energy Advice Café every Tuesday and Wednesday from 10am-1pm at The Green Man. Sharon shares her top tips to save money on your energy bills.
The news at the moment around energy price rises is concerning, but it’s important to focus on changes you can make to save energy and money.
What is important is the price you pay per Kilowatt-hour (kWh). The next time you get a statement or bill, look for the bit that says you used X number of units at X cost of pence per kWh. There will be a price for gas and electric.
So how long is a kWh? It is the length of time it takes to use a Kilowatt of energy – so if you are boiling a 2KW kettle that will take about half an hour to use a kWh but if you are using an 800 watt microwave oven that would take about 1hour 20 minutes to use a kWh. As you can see from this example, it is important not to overfill the kettle as it is a high user of energy.
Small changes you make can save you money! Read your meters at the start of the month and make a note of the readings. Then follow the tips below to make some changes the next month and compare the readings to measure how much you save.
- Only boil your kettle with enough water for what you need.
- Make sure you have a full load when doing the washing and wash at a low temperature.
- Move furniture away from radiators and external walls.
- If you’re heating food up and do not have a microwave, use the oven as it starts to heat up.
- Open curtains/blinds during the day to heat up the home and close them when the sun is not shining to keep the heat in.
- Turn off electrical items and lights when you are not using them. Remember, every little light blinking at you from an electrical item or a clock on a cooker or microwave, you are paying for it.
We all know how we use energy in our homes and we all know where we can save energy, except now it’s not only about saving energy, it’s about saving money!