How to reduce your energy bills in winter

With winter approaching fast and predictions suggesting it will be colder than 2017, preparing for the cold snap now will help avoid any unwanted problems. This includes heft energy bills! In this blog post, we’ll provide 5 tips we think can help you to reduce your energy bills in winter and cut unnecessary costs.

Track your energy consumption

A smart meter can give you a live information on how much information is being used right now as well as being able to send meter readings straight to your energy provider which can be one less thing to worry about.

If you do ask for a smart meter from your energy supplier be sure that they provide a SMETS-compliant meter since it complies with the features that the government has set out. Your energy provider may install an ‘advanced’ meter instead and you may have to upgrade to a smart meter later on.

Stock up early

This might be the easiest tip to do, especially in the run-up to Christmas. Keeping your fridge full is a way of reducing the amount of space in the fridge. This means that your fridge doesn’t have to produce as much cold air to exchange with the warm air. Your fridge uses less energy to do so.

If you don’t plan on buying on the food you don’t need, filling jugs or bowls of water and storing them in the fridge can also have the same effect.

Use energy-hungry appliances sparingly

Building on the same idea, using your dishwasher only when it is full means that it is more efficient. A half load still uses just as much hot water and electricity as a full load. Storing dishes in the dishwasher and only turning it on when it is full can save energy.

A conventional oven is great for cooking the turkey but for most other cooking tasks a microwave or slow cooker can achieve the same task. A slow cooker can is up to 75% more efficient compared to a conventional oven.

Invest in your homes thermal efficiency

If you would like to go a step further and lower your energy bills even further then a good place to start would be to ensure that you have roof insulation, efficient doors and double glazed windows. Since escaping heat can quickly raise energy bills, ensuring that you have properly insulated home means you can save more.