During this difficult time, we will all be spending more time than usual in our homes. If you are worried about your bills increasing, we have put together a list of our top energy savings tips. These could help you reduce your usage and your bill, after all, it’s the smallest of changes that can make the biggest impact. While your energy consumption for items such as laptops, computer monitors and televisions is likely to increase, modern devices are quite energy efficient and with summer just around the corner and temperatures rising, you may not see as large an impact on your bills as you expect.
Avoid using your dryer
Consider drying your clothes outside if you can, or in room where you can open a window. Tumble dryers are one of the higher energy users in the average household.
Switch off
You’ve probably heard this before: turn lights off when you leave a room, turn off plugs at the wall when you are done with them and don’t leave electricals on standby.
Shut out drafts
Keeping doors closed will reduce the movement of cold air through the house and contain heat in one room. If you are still feeling the chill, try putting a jumper on as an alternative instead of turning on the heating
Target your heating
If you have thermostatic radiator valves make sure they are adjusted correctly so that only the rooms you are using are being heated. For example, you might not want your bedrooms heated during the day.
Embrace natural lighting
Instead of turning on a light, open blinds and curtains to make the most of the light outside.
Reheating food
Consider using a microwave to reheat food, they typically only use 20% of the energy required to run a full-size oven.
Cooking on the hob
Don’t let heat escape. Cover your pots and pans with a lid, this keeps the heat in and reduces condensation in the kitchen. Use the right sized hob for your pan - the closer the match, the less energy you use.
Boiling the kettle
Only boil as much water as you will use, it will be quicker and reduce wasted energy.
Turn down the brightness
Dimming the screen of electricals means that the battery will last longer so you don’t have to charge as often.
Shower power
In general showers use less water and less energy than a bath. But be careful, some power showers are not as efficient although these tend to be older models. Of course, how long you spend in the shower also counts.
Using your washing machine
Doing your washing on a lower temperature makes a huge difference, even going from 40°C to 30°C. Also, wait until your machine is full before you turn it on to reduce the amount washes you are having to do.
Try using a slow cooker
Slow cookers use very little energy compared to an oven and are perfect for dishes that need time for flavours to develop.
Let your food cool down
If you are storing cooked food into your fridge or freezer, make sure it is completely cool first. Your fridge or freezer will have to use more energy to cool itself down if you put something hot inside.
Personalised energy saving advice
If you are already an Igloo customer, you can get access to personalised help and advice by completing our Me and My Home survey in your online account.
More help and information
We are passionate about lowering energy consumption and offer a full range of products to help you do so. If you would like to learn more about products that can lower your energy usage click here.
If you would like some independent advice on how to reduce the energy you’re using, you can find out more at the Energy saving trust.
For more information about how we plan to support our customers through the COVID-19 pandemic, please click here to read an update from our CEO.
