Save money on energy bills

Filed under: Money, August 2009

The future of energy bills seems pretty grim with suppliers bumping up their prices as the cost of gas and electricity continues to increase. While you can't negotiate with your supplier about the cost per unit of energy, there are various things you can do to be energy efficient and help reduce your bills. Firstly, check out the top searches in energy bills.
Top energy searches:
  1. Compare gas prices
  2. Compare electricity prices
  3. Gas and electricity supplier
  4. Renewable energy
  5. Save money on bills
  6. Energy efficiency
  7. Solar electricity
  8. Energy management solutions
  9. Fuel bills
  10. Green electricity
In the kitchen there are many ways you can cut down the amount of energy you use. If you use a gas hob, make sure that the flames do not lick the sides of the pan - if they do then the hob is too high. Electric toasters and kettles are more energy efficient than using the grill or a hot plate, and if you're looking for a new cooker, get a fan assisted oven as these do not need much preheating and they cook faster. When doing your washing up, you can rinse the dishes in cold water instead of hot, and when doing the laundry - as you've no doubt heard before - you can wash at 30º, make sure you do a full load every time and then dry your clothes outdoors or on a rack.

Around the house you can cut down on energy by wrapping up warm! If you turn down your heating during the winter as much as you can bear and wear warm clothes you could reduce your heating bill by 10%. Using the time controller on your heating is good way to make sure your house is only heated when you need it to be and if you usually have your heating on at night, switch it off and get a thicker duvet! Putting reflective panels behind your radiators (these can even be tin foil) will increase their efficency, and if you make sure your curtains are closed at dusk, they will help keep heat from escaping.

Getting your house properly insulated - walls, loft, gaps in the skirting board, double glazing - all these things will make huge savings on your heating bills. And of course there are all the little things you've probably already done or are meaning to do such as using energy saving bulbs, switching off lights if you don't need them, showering instead of bathing, defrosting your fridge and freezer regularly and letting hot foods cool before putting them in the fridge.

Do you have any tips for saving on your energy bills? Pass them on by leaving a comment here.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.

Comment of the Week

  • "Some of these were mildy scary but the scariest film I ever saw was called "Satan's triangle" and starred Doug McClure. It was on the box late one night in about 1975 and when it finished I was shakey. About 5 mins later the phone rang (it was one o'clock in the morning), on the other end was my brother-in-law, he had watched it too and was too scared to go to bed."

    by RonP about the post
    What's your favourite scary movie?