It’s no secret that this winter is shaping up to be a struggle for so many households in the UK.  With rising energy bills on the minds of millions – the cold weather has the potential to ask some difficult questions of us all. When do you put the heating on? When can you afford to?  Obviously, there are challenges ahead – but there are also ways to save energy here and there that can add up over the course of a few months. Below are a few tips to help you feel a bit better about the prospect of turning up that thermostat. 

Keep out the cold 

Although it may be an obvious  solution, taking care of the  draughty areas in your home can  be one of the best ways to save  energy. Draughts not only let in  the cold, but also allow heat to escape – so it’s no surprise that draught proofing could save you  up to £25 per year. A chimney draught excluder could save you an additional £17 per year while also reducing your carbon footprint. 

Upgrade your heating controls 

Over 50% of your energy bill will go towards providing heating and hot water. Updating your  heating controls can be the best way to manage your bills by  reducing how frequently you use your heating. Room thermostats,  programmers and thermostatic  radiator valves can all help to  reduce your costs when used  efficiently. Maybe you only ever  shower in the morning? If that’s  the case – you can turn off the  hot water for the rest of the day!  Heating controls can save you  roughly £75 per year. 

Insulate your pipes 

Pipe insulation can help to  prevent heat from being lost  from the pipes in your home.  This helps to keep your water  hotter for longer and therefore  reducing how much energy is  required to heat it. They’re really  easy to install too! You simply  place foam tubes around the  exposed pipes between your hot  water cylinder and your boiler  – and doing so can save you  around £10 per year. 

Radiator Reflection

Radiator reflector panels are a  cheap and easy way of saving  energy. Instead of letting heat  escape through an external wall,  the panels reflect heat back into  your home – reducing your  overall energy consumption.  Installing these panels could save  you £19 per year. 

But wait, there’s more…  Maybe it’s time to consider the bigger decisions available to you. Have your kids left home?  Do you need all the space you  currently have? If not, downsizing  to a smaller property to suit your  needs could be one of the most  effective ways to reduce your  energy consumption. Not only  that, but downsizing could also  see your council tax decrease  significantly. If you think downsizing could be  on your radar, or you’d just like  to discuss the options available  to you, get in touch with your  adviser to talk through any  queries you may have. 

If you’d like to discuss the options available to you, contact me today.