Energy efficiency in your home

• Turn off taps fully. In just one day, a dripping hot water tap wastes enough energy and water to fill a bath.
• Keep the water cylinder cosy by fitting a lagging jacket. This will cost between £10 and £15 and will pay for itself within a year.
• Don’t leave the tap running when you are cleaning your teeth or shaving.
• Use the sink plug when washing your hands, rather than running water.
• If your water gets too hot set your cylinder thermostat to 60ºC/140ºF. This should provide the perfect temperature for washing and bathing.
• Use the half load or economy settings on your washing machine, tumble dryer and dishwasher if you do not have enough for a full load.
• When boiling the kettle, only use as much water as you need (remember to cover the heating element with water if you are using an electric kettle).
• If possible, have showers instead of baths.
• Don’t have the bath water too deep. A typical bath can use up to 80 litres, while a shower only uses a third of that amount.
• Use a washing up bowl in the kitchen sink.
• Rinse hand-washed dishes under cold rather than hot water.
• If you use electricity to heat your water, check your off-peak rates which can be substantially cheaper than the peak or day rate. Speak to your electricity supplier for more information and check you are on the correct rate.
• Use a Hippo – the water saver device in your toilet cistern – to reduce the amount of water used each time you flush. Most water companies provide their customers with a free Hippo on request. Alternatively, you can buy directly from the supplier.

• You can cut the amount of energy you use through your central heating controls. These include thermostats for heating and hot water, radiator valves with thermostats included and electronic timers.
• Make sure you know how to use the heating temperature controls, so you can control the temperature as and when you need to.
• Storage heaters are an excellent way to reduce heating costs if used properly. Find out more information with our self-help guide to storage heaters here. 
• Ensure your thermostatic radiator valves are set correctly if you have them. These allow you to set different temperatures in different rooms.
• Turn your central heating down by one degree and cut your heating bills by up to 10, saving you around £40 per year.
• It is recommended that you keep the temperature between 18ºC / 65ºF and 21ºC / 70ºF.
• If you are elderly or in poor health, you should keep the temperature at 21ºC / 70ºF.
• Do not leave an immersion heater on all the time.
• Using a thicker duvet is more efficient than keeping the heating on throughout the night.
• Other ways to keep heat in include closing the curtains at dusk and tuck them behind any radiators (except gas wall heaters), moving furniture that blocks heat from radiators, covering up draughty gaps around letter boxes, key holes and doors, and opening internal doors of rooms which get most of the sunlight to allow warm air to travel through and heat your home naturally.

Fridge

• Don’t leave the fridge door open for longer than necessary. For every minute that the fridge door is open, it will take three minutes for it to regain its cool temperature.
• Defrost your fridge and freezer regularly and keep the back clean and free from dust so they work more efficiently.
• Keep your fridge away from other heat sources, as it makes them work harder.
• When replacing your fridge and freezer, if it is practical choose a fridge freezer.

Dishwashers

• Purchase the right dishwasher for your needs. Dishwashers are sold by place settings, for example a single person would require a nine place while a family would need a 12 place setting
• Run dishwashers at full load.

Cooking

• Opening your oven door during cooking to check if food is ready reduces its temperature by 25 degrees.
• Leave food to defrost before cooking as this uses less energy than cooking from frozen.
• Use an electric toaster rather than a grill.

• If you need to buy a new appliance, try and make sure it is A+++ rated.
• Turn appliances off standby. The average household wastes £30 a year simply by leaving appliances on standby. If a charger or power pack is warm or has a light on it is probably using power.

• Avoid tumble drying your clothes, instead dry clothes outdoors if possible. (When drying indoors open a window to avoid condensation)
• When tumble drying, spin-dry or wring out the clothes first and remember to clean out the fluff filter as this improves the efficiency of the dryer.
• Washing clothes at 30ºC can be just as effective for a normally soiled load and uses almost half the energy.

• Don’t use higher wattage bulbs than you need.
• If outside lights are left on overnight, install a low energy bulb and a light sensitivity sensor so they stay off during the day.
• Switch off the lights when you leave the room.
• If you have outside halogen security lights use a motion detector to save wasting energy.