Tip 1

Common sense tells us that as the temperature outside drops, we need to use more heating inside to be comfortable, and so heating bills rise. As a guide, many people can feel comfortable in a room temperature of 20 Celsius, 68 Fahrenheit. But draughts from badly fitting windows or doors can make it feel chilly. If you can be comfortable in a room at 18 Centigrade, perhaps by wearing an extra layer of clothes or a rug, then with an outside temperature of 5 Centigrade, you can reduce your fuel cost by about 8%. So try turning down the thermostat. As a guide, if the temperature outside drops from 5 Centigrade to zero, the heat needed to keep warm increases by about 30%.

Tip 2

It can be comparatively cheap to improve the seal round windows with special tape. You can also reduce the heat loss through windows by covering the window area with thin plastic film, making sure to seal it all round with tape. Window blinds can help to reduce heat losses too. If you use a gas or solid fuel heater, you should make sure that you have a carbon monoxide alarm in the room particularly if you are able to reduce draughts because under these conditions the heater can rapidly consume the oxygen in the air and produce the killer gas carbon monoxide.

Tip 3

Much of the heat lost from a home can be up through the ceiling into the roof space, so make sure that there is at least 276 mm of insulation, more than 10 inches. There are different types of insulation available for your loft these include:

Blanket . or Roll insulation

Granular, or loose fill insulation

Sheet insulation

Blown fibre insulation

Having sufficient insulating material in the loft space can help reduce your household energy costs, if you are looking to find a local Home Insulation Installer you may get it it installed for free by applying for a Government grant.

Tip 4

Much more energy is needed to cool food from 14 Celsius to 4 Celsius in a fridge than to heat it through ten degrees from 14 Celsius to 24 Celsius, so do not leave the fridge door open for longer than you have to. Put food from the fridge back into the fridge while it is still cold. If you want to keep cooked food in the fridge, carefully cover it and let it cool to close to room temperature, before you put it into the fridge.

Tip 5

The energy companies still have complex tariffs often including a daily standing charge. Ours does quote a gas tariff as 4.36pence for a kWh and electricity as 13.46 pence per kWh. Electric heaters should be 100% efficient but gas heaters are probably not as efficient because the room must be ventilated. We have a gas radiator with a high quoted efficiency of 80% so each kWh of heat costs us 4.36/0.8 which is 5.45 p . So for us, using the gas radiator is the best option. Try to heat only the rooms you use.

Tip 6

Some kitchen items like fridges, freezers and ovens should be insulated either to reduce heat loss from ovens or heat gain to fridges and freezers. Standards for insulation have been raised over the last decade or so and all new products should indicate their expected energy use. Other home appliances including vacuum cleaners and hair driers come with an energy rating and bear in mind that a 2000 W vacuum cleaner used for 30 minutes can use 1000 Wh or 1kWh which would cost me 13.46 pence . If we used it at that rate daily , the weekly cost would be nearly 95 pence.