How to save energy around the home Remember The cheapest energy is the energy you don t use
Energy used by domestic work Cooking When cooking, putting several vegetables in the one pan not only cuts down on the amount of burners you need to have on, but saves on washing up too. Chopping food in to small pieces before cooking and using lids on pots and pans will speed up the process and save energy. Although not always suitable, using the microwave rather than an electric cooker will cut down electricity usage considerably! Microwaves and electric cookers use similar amounts of power over the space of an hour, however a microwave typically cooks much faster and therefore works out cheaper to run. An electric cooker would use 1kWh of electricity per hour Washing Up If you use a dishwasher, pre-rinse items and then use an economy wash and still get sparkling glasses. If you wash up in the sink, fill the bowl with hot soapy water and rinse off where necessary rather than leaving the tap running.
Laundry In order to get the best value for money from your washing, you should always fill the washing machine with a full load. One full load uses less energy than two half loads. An economy cycle would usually use 0.3kWh in comparison to a standard wash, which would use 1kWh The economy wash on most machines is as effective as a hotter wash. Washing clothes at 30 degrees rather than at higher temperatures uses around 40% less energy. Modern washing powders and detergents work just as effectively at lower temperatures, so this is a quick and easy saving, unless you have very dirty washing! Make sure your machine is turned off completely and not left on standby when not in use.
Tumble Dryer Rather than using a tumble dryer, save energy and money by drying clothes on a line wherever possible. A tumble dryer uses 1kWh every 24 minutes. You would use 1 Kwh of electricity running the tumble dryer for 24 minutes Spinning your clothes on the washing machine s highest spin cycle will remove almost all the water, so they will dry more quickly on the line or in the tumble dryer. If you do have to use the dryer, make sure your tumble dryer s filters are clean of fluff. Ensuring the filters are de-fluffed will help it to dry efficiently. Blocked filters are also a fire risk. If your tumble dryer is the traditional non-condensing type, make sure it is connected to a vent to prevent condensation around the home.
Cleaning Most people will be delighted at this tip but try to vacuum less! Some of today s powerful vacuums can use 30p of electricity every hour. Vacuuming for an hour would use 2kWh of electricity, this will cost approx 30p. Vacuuming for 50 mins a day everyday will cost approx 109 a year
Heating & Hot Water Making small changes to the way you use the heating system in your home can make a big difference to your annual bills. For example reducing your room temperature by 1 C could cut your heating bills by up to 10% and typically saves around 65 per year! Try not to place items on radiators to dry or place large items of furniture in front of the radiators, as this will drastically reduce the efficiency of the radiator. Installing foil sheets behind radiators reflects heat back into the room, rather than being lost into the wall. Make sure that you do not leave your immersion heater on when you don t need it. An immersion heater will use approximately 3kWh, so left on for 24 hours this will use 72kWh a day. This would cost you 3,325 a year!
Lounge It s an obvious one but remember to turn off lights that are not required. Consider swapping old standard light bulbs for energy saving ones. A normal 60watt bulb uses 1kWh in 16 hours, an energy saving bulb would last for 90 hours for the same. When it starts to get dark, draw the curtains to keep the heat in. Close internal doors to keep the heat in the rooms you are in and even turn radiators off in unused rooms. Why not think about putting on an extra layer of clothing before turning up the heating and spending more money? Don't leave your TV, DVD, set top box, etc. on standby. Get into the habit of turning off the television at the socket or on the set rather than leave things on standby. By using an inexpensive power down unit that turns everything off with a single switch, you could save 50-90 per year on electricity bills.
Bedroom Don t leave your mobile phone on charge all night. It only needs a couple of hours, so try to plug it in when you re watching TV or having dinner. Set the heating to switch off a short while before you go to bed, so it won t stay on once you re asleep. Use the right tog level duvet for the weather (low tog in summer and high tog in winter) to avoid having to use the heating unnecessarily. Keep extra blankets by the bed so you can easily adjust your temperature during the night.
In the hall Use curtains for the front door and any windows. This will insulate the space better and keep the draughts out. Fit a cover to the key hole and ensure the letterbox has a flap and brushes fitted. With older timber doors, fit self adhesive draught excluder strips to the door frame to make an effective seal. Make use of the room thermostat, often fitted in the hallway, to control your central heating system. Set the desired house temperature here and then use thermostatically controlled valves fitted to each radiator to regulate the temperature in each room.
Below is a comparison of energy use and cost in a typical family household. The figures are based on an average routine for two adults and three children. Typical Day 1 TV 10 Hours 3.3kWh Desktop computer 5 Hours 0.4kWh Dishwasher half full on 1 Hour 2kWh Laptop left on 10 Hours 0.25kWh Washing machine at 40 c intensive wash 2.5 Hours 4.2kWh Tumble dryer 3 Hours 6kWh 10 Standard 80w lights left on 10 Hours 8kWh Electric oven 2 Hours 2kWh Immersion 2 Hours 6kWh Total electricity used 32.15 kwh Total cost of electricity per day 4.06 Total cost of electricity per year 1,481.90 By making a few simple changes you can save A LOT of money. Here s how we ve done it.
We ve changed the bulbs to energy saving 12 watt bulbs, switched to eco cycles on appliances, along with turning off appliances when they are not in use. We ve avoided using the immersion by reducing waste water (plug it, don t let it run) and hung clothes to dry rather than using a tumble dryer. This is the result: Typical Day 2 TV 5 Hours 1.65kWh Desktop computer 1 Hour 0.08kWh Dishwasher full on eco 1 Hour 1.5kWh Laptop left on 5 Hours 0.125kWh Washing machine at 30 c eco wash 1 Hour 1.6kWh Tumble dryer 1 Hour 2kWh 10 Energy saving lights (12w) 10 Hours 1.2kWh Microwave 30 mins 0.45kWh Total electricity used 8.6 kwh Total cost of electricity per day 1.09 Total cost of electricity per year 397.85 Total saving 1,277.50
Contact Us For further information on how you can save money in your home or to speak directly to an Energy Advisor, please call Radian Direct on 0300 123 1 567. You can also e-mail: radiandirect@radian.co.uk or text on 07764 309062.