How to cut energy bills

The energy regulator Ofgem on the 25^th of May 2023 released the good news that energy bills should be coming down this summer. Following recent falls in the overall price of energy, with effect from the 1^st of July the energy price cap will be reduced from its present £3,280 to £2,074 – at the same time reducing the typical household’s energy bill by around £426.

Those reductions are thoroughly welcome, of course, but whether you are a homeowner or landlord there is only really one sure-fire way of cutting your energy bills – and that is to consume less energy. Let’s see how you might do that:

Shorter showers

• you could save almost £100 a year simply by spending less time under your shower in the mornings;

• according to Smart Energy, by cutting your typical time in the shower from 8 minutes to 4 minutes, you could be saving as much as £95 on your annual energy bill;

The showerhead

• while reducing the time in the shower might seem fairly obvious, a further modification to the shower itself could also save you money by reducing the amount of water – and the energy used to heat it;

• an estimated 70% of the water you use in your shower is hot water, so reducing the flow with a more water-efficient showerhead could save you a further £100 a year, said the Huffington Post on the 20^th of April 2023;

Put the kettle on

• do you fill up the kettle whenever you need to boil water regardless of how much you’re actually going to use;

• a story by Wales Online on the 3^rd of September 2022 estimated that by boiling only as much water as you need, you could be saving yourself £11 a year – it might not seem that much, but when it comes to saving energy, every little helps;

No standby

• the same news source also referred to a simple tip that at first sight would seem to have little impact on the energy you consume;

• this is the hoary old chestnut of leaving countless appliances and devices permanently on standby – for as long as all those gadgets remain plugged in, they continue to use electricity;

• by disconnecting the power supply, the average household could save as much as £55 annually, said Wales Online;

Beat the draughts

• you will have spent a fair amount of gas or electricity heating your home, so keep that valuable energy where it belongs on the inside and protected from the draughts and gaps around doors, windows, and up through ill-fitting floorboards;

• it might cost as much as £225 to plug all those gaps, suggests the Energy Saving Trust, but that simple measure alone could save you up to £125 a year – it’ll pay for itself in less than 24 months;

Insulate

• the key to keeping the heat inside your home, of course, lies in efficient insulation;

• there are all manner of areas you might want to think about protecting in this way – from cavity wall insulation to underfloor or roof insulation;

• but the most efficient and effective result for probably the majority of households is still likely to be loft insulation;

• an article in the Consumer Association’s Which magazine on the 4^th of January 2023 estimated that a properly insulated roof space in a four-bedroom detached house could generate energy savings of up to £215 a year while even a 3-bedroom mid-terrace home could achieve savings of up to £115 a year through efficient loft insulation.

The spiralling cost of energy has played a large part in the challenges most of us face in the battle against the rising cost of living. While the signs are promising for a steady reduction in energy bills for the remainder of this year, there is still much we can do to cut consumption – and make further savings on those bills.