How to Save Energy & Save Money Around Your Home
We could all do with trying to make our homes work better, for the sake of the environment and our purse strings. A combination of rising energy bills, unseasonal weather and being at home more, all add up. Keeping ourselves warm and staying on top of our finances is getting harder.
But there are things that we can do to help ease the situation.
Make sure your home is properly insulated
You’ll find it hard to save money around the house if you’re living in a poorly insulated property. So, the first thing to do is make a checklist of improvements to save energy. Try to get your property up to modern energy-efficient standards. Ideally, you want to be keeping the warmth in and using your heating less. That’s where the biggest savings are going to be made.
Your checklist may include loft insulation, wall insulation, double-glazing, fixing draughts, and fixing leaks. Once you’ve got a to-do list, you’ll need to price up which jobs you can afford to do straight away and which you’ll need to save for. For this, you might want to use the help of an online guide to working out what loft and wall insulation prices are likely to be or to contact local firms for quotes.
Do your research
When it’s time to invest in new appliances, make sure you do your research. It’s not just about comparing prices of products. Choose white goods that are rated highly for their energy efficiency.
Buy products that will last and work well, this will help save you money over time. For example, a good quality kettle that has an eco-mode or can be boiled with a low minimum fill level, may work more efficiently and last longer than the cheapest kettle on the market.
Get into good habits to save energy
Whilst we’re on the subject of kettles, it’s time to talk about our habits. Are you guilty of over-filling your kettle? Do you let it go off the boil and then boil it again a few seconds later? Do you leave the taps running when washing up or cleaning your teeth?
We’re all guilty of wasting energy around the home due to bad habits we’ve fallen into. Many of these habits are due to lack of time, but a few simple changes could help keep things in check. Waiting for a full load before starting the washing machine or switching lights off when we leave the room are good habits we can get into.
Installing a smart meter can help identify some of those times when we’re using too much energy. A smart meter can tell you when your energy usage is high and help you work out which appliances are costing you the most to use.
