The ongoing restrictions due to COVID-19 means we are all spending a lot of time at home, either working or trying to home school, but ultimately keeping ourselves and our loved ones healthy and safe.
But with the restrictions turning from weeks into perhaps months you may be worried about your energy usage and bills spiking! A recent report suggested energy consumption at home could be up as much as 20% since people were asked to stay at home*.
There is really no way around it…. if you’re at home more than usual your energy use will increase, but this does not mean bills have to increase. There are many ways to cut bills, reduce energy use and save money.
Here are our top tips to take control of home energy bills during these uncertain times.
Switch Energy Supplier
The quickest way to reduce energy bills is to switch energy supplier. With 5 electricity suppliers and over 30 tariffs to choose from there are a range of deals that will save you money.
If you have never switched or it’s been a while you will save money by switching tariff or supplier.
At www.powertoswitch.co.uk we compare all tariffs, deals and offers across all electricity and gas suppliers in Northern Ireland to make sure you find the best deal. Switching is quick, hassle-free and means you keep more money in your pocket. You don’t even have to tell your old supplier you are leaving!!!
And switching does pay…so far in 2020 the average saving people have found comparing energy deals with ‘Power to Switch’ is £89. That’s a significant saving that can be found from the comfort of your armchair!!!
Take control of your energy cost
As well as switching energy supplier there are other ways to help reduce energy costs. More than half the money spent on fuel bills goes towards providing heating and hot water, so it makes sense to focus on these areas.
Here are a few simple, top tips to help reduced energy use (and bills) in the home
Heating and Heating Control
- Installing a room thermostat, a programmer and thermostatic radiator valves and using these controls efficiently could save you around £75 a year
- If you already have a full set of controls, turning down your room thermostat by just one degree can save around £80 a year
- Don’t have the heating running all day if you don’t need it (especially if the weather stays nice) … and only heat the rooms you need
Lighting
- Make sure that everyone turns off every light when leaving a room and you can save up to £15 a year
- And now might be a good time to think about replacing any inefficient bulbs you still have around the house. If the average household replaced all of their bulbs with LEDs, it would cost about £100 and save about £35 a year on bills
Home Appliances
- You can save around £30 a year just by remembering to turn your appliances off standby mode
- You can save around £36 a year from your energy bill just by using your kitchen appliances more carefully
- Turn off tablets, laptops and consoles as soon as you stop using them, and ideally unplug them
Taking action is easy…
Sometimes it feels like a hassle to make changes – but saving money on energy bills is ‘low effort and high reward’.
Switching, and making some small changes in the home could see more than £100 saving on your home energy bills. Switching is free and it only takes around 3 minutes to find a better deal. Switch energy suppliers and start saving today.
For more information, advice and support on energy issues visit www.powertoswitch.co.uk or follow us on facebook or twitter
