Energy saving tips

Our energy saving tips around the home can help you save money on your fuel bills.

  • Replace old light bulbs with energy saving bulbs, they last 12 times longer than a normal bulb and you could reduce your electricity bill by £7 a year.
  • Look for the Energy Efficiency logo when you buy new household appliances. The higher the appliance rating (‘A’ being the best) the greater the amount of money and energy is saved. An A-rated fridge could save you £35 a year.
  • Make sure the freezer is full and use boxes to fill the gaps.
  • Only use a full load in the dishwasher or tumble dryer or use the economy cycle option.
  • SWITCH IT OFF. Each year £150 million of electricity is consumed by videos, televisions and other electrical devices left on standby.
  • Turn off the lights if they are not required or if no-one is in the room.
  • Turn your thermostat down by 1ºC and cut the heating bills by up to 10 per cent, saving you around £30 a year. (The recommended room temperature is 21ºC for a living room, 16ºC for hallways).
  • Close curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping through windows.
  • Do not leave fridge and freezer doors open longer than necessary.
  • Close  windows if the air conditioning is on. Either change the air conditioning temperature or switch it off.
  • Do not leave a hot water tap dripping. This wastes energy and in one week wastes enough hot water to fill half a bath. Please fix leaking taps and make sure they are fully turned off.

Watt costs what?

Ever wondered exactly where all this energy is going? Or how much electricity your household appliances use, which are the most expensive or where we can make savings?

It’s simple to work out, providing you know how many ‘watts’ your appliance uses.

This is usually shown on the appliance nameplate with the serial number. The higher the rating of the appliance, the more electricity it will use.

A 1kW (1000 watt) appliance will use one unit per hour.

A 5kW (5000 watt) appliance will use five units per hour.

For example, a 1kW heater will use one unit of electricity each hour; a 100 watt light bulb will use one unit of electricity every ten hours.

You can work out how much your appliances are costing by referring to the Meter Reading Guide (PDF 30KB)

For further information: