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Temperatures are dropping, and the nights are drawing in. It’s a time of dark evenings, frosty mornings and huddling indoors with the curtains closed.
But if you’re worrying about how you’re going to keep warm and save money on your heating this winter, here are 6 simple ways to cut the cost of your energy bills, and still keep toasty.
If you’re still with the same energy supplier, it may be time for a change. Unfortunately, energy companies don’t seem to want to reward us for our loyalty, so check out the comparison sites to see if you could be getting a better deal. Once you’ve found a better tariff, give your existing supplier a call and ask if they can better it, or at least match it. You could save hundreds of pounds per year on your energy bills.
Ensuring that your home is adequately draft-proofed will go a long way to cutting your energy bill and keeping you warm. Check for gaps under doors, windows that don’t shut properly and drafts coming up through floorboards.
Easy solutions include buying inexpensive draft excluder strips and self-adhesive strips from your local DIY store, and covering your floorboards with a large rug. Don’t forget to check for drafts from your letterbox and keyholes, and make sure that cold air isn’t coming into your house through gaps around electrical fittings or where water pipes enter and exit the external walls of the house.
Most of us feel comfortable with our thermostat at 20, but by simply dropping it another couple of degrees, you could save up to 20% on your heating bill.
You may feel the need to wear a jumper indoors at this temperature, and if you’re an older person, this setting may not be right for you, but for every degree you reduce the temperature on your thermostat, you could save 10% on your heating bill – and who doesn’t want that?
Why turn on your radiators and then position something in front of them? Culprits include sofas and chairs in the living room, beds in the bedrooms, towels in the bathroom, and full-length curtains.
It may be that your room doesn’t leave you much option when it comes to positioning your furniture, but at least try to pull the furniture as far away as possible from the radiator to allow the heat to flow freely around the room.
Not your front door of course, but if you leave doors to hot kitchens and hot ovens open, the warm air will circulate around the house, as will steam from a bathroom. Just be extra careful with the oven door if you have small children about.
Go for walks when the weather’s nice rather than staying cooped up indoors. Take the opportunity to visit friends and family. Go and volunteer at a local charity. If you’re out of the house doing something that doesn’t cost much money, you can leave your heating turned down!
While all the suggestions above will help you to reduce your heating bills without sacrificing too much warmth, don’t forget to have your heating system checked over before the winter kicks in to ensure that it’s running at its optimum level. You know it makes sense.
