Reducing Energy Waste – Energy-Saving Tips for Every Household

In every household, energy conservation is not just a way to lower bills, but also a vital step in reducing our carbon footprint. Simple changes can make a big difference. Here we’ll explore practical steps to minimize energy waste in your home and improve efficiency. There is every chance that in your household you are already employing some of these tips and tricks, or that you might not be able to implement all of these energy saving techniques; regardless this is a comprehensive list that you can work your way through and cross as much as possible in an effort to stave off increasing energy costs.

Before you start it is worth knowing that there are a variety of tools and gadgets that you can use in an effort to help control your energy bills. These however are not essential. A hive thermostat or smart radiator valves such as Radbot 1’s are great but they can be a big expense. If your energy supplier gives you a smart meter that connects to a phone app (like Octopus Energy’s App) or a smart home sensor, that is pretty much everything you will need to get to grips with what you are spending when. Another tool that can be worth investing in is a Power consumption plug meter which can tell you exactly how much power an electrical device is drawing or alternatively a thermal camera can be beneficial to show you how and where your house is radiating heat.

Simple Ways to Stay Warm and Save Money This Winter

As winter approaches and energy costs continue to rise in line with the Energy Price Cap, it’s more important than ever to find affordable ways to keep warm. While adjusting your heating system is one approach, there are plenty of simple, low-cost strategies that can make a big difference in staying cozy without ramping up your energy bills. Here are some easy tips to help you keep warm and save money this winter.

The Basics That Everyone Can Implement:

We will start off this list with the basics that pretty much anyone can implement:

Be Mindful of Your Energy Use

The first step to adopting energy-conscious habits is to become more aware of how and when you use energy. Regularly check your energy consumption, either through your energy provider’s app or a smart meter (Octopus Energy can install a smart meter for you if you do not have one), to understand your usage patterns. This awareness helps you identify areas where you can cut back, such as turning off lights in unoccupied rooms or unplugging devices that aren’t in use.

Engage the Whole Household

Energy-saving is most effective when everyone in the household is on board. Encourage your family members or housemates to adopt energy-conscious habits by making it a shared goal. Set targets for reducing energy use and celebrate your progress together. You can even turn it into a fun challenge, with rewards for the most energy-efficient practices.

Layer Up: Wear Warm Clothing Indoors

One of the simplest and most effective ways to stay warm is to dress warmly inside your home. This might sound obvious, but it’s often overlooked in favor of turning up the heating.

Wear Layers: Start with a thermal or long-sleeve base layer, add a warm jumper or fleece, or rock a vest and finish with a cozy cardigan or hoodie. Layering traps heat and provides better insulation.
Thick Socks and Slippers: Cold feet can make you feel chilly all over. Keep your feet warm with thick, woolly socks and a pair of insulated slippers.
Blankets and Throws: Keep a warm blanket or throw within reach in your living area. Wrapping up while watching TV or reading a book can reduce the need to turn up the heat.

Cook and Clean More Efficiently

When cooking, match the size of your pot or pan to the burner on your stove to prevent energy waste. Covering pots and pans with lids also helps retain heat and cook food faster. When it comes to cleaning, run your dishwasher and washing machine with full loads to maximize energy efficiency. Use the eco-mode on your appliances when available, and air dry dishes and clothes whenever possible.

Devices such as heated electric clothes dryers do use energy, however if you are implementing the “heat one room” strategy then this can be integrated into your plan.

Make the Most of Indoor Cooking

Cooking not only provides warm, hearty meals but also generates heat that can help warm your home. Be smart about how you use your kitchen this winter.

Cook Larger Meals: Cooking larger meals, like a roast or stew, not only saves time but also releases more heat into your home. After using the oven, leave the door open to let the residual heat warm your kitchen.
Boil Water for Extra Warmth: When boiling water for tea or coffee, let the kettle finish its boiling cycle. The steam adds a little extra moisture and warmth to the room.
Use the Oven Wisely: While it’s not energy-efficient to use the oven solely for heating, cooking meals that require longer baking times can provide additional warmth.

Stay Active Indoors

Keeping warm isn’t just about what you wear or how you heat your home. Staying active is a great way to maintain body warmth.

Move Around Regularly: Get up and move around the house frequently. Whether it’s doing housework, stretching, or a quick walk around the room, staying active will help keep your circulation going and prevent you from feeling cold.
Indoor Workouts: Consider doing some indoor exercises like yoga, stretching, or light cardio. Not only does it warm you up, but it also contributes to overall health and well-being.

Use Heated Throws or Hot Water Bottles

A heated throw or hot water bottle can be a game-changer for staying warm in one spot without needing to heat the entire room.

Heated Throws: These can be a cost-effective way to stay warm while sitting on the couch or working at your desk. They’re inexpensive to run and provide targeted warmth where you need it most.
Hot Water Bottles: Old-fashioned but effective, a hot water bottle can be your best friend on a cold night. Use it in bed to warm the sheets before you climb in, or keep it on your lap while sitting.

Sleep Warm and Comfortable

Staying warm overnight is crucial for a good night’s sleep and avoiding the temptation to overheat your home.

Add Extra Bedding: Use thicker blankets, duvets, or even layer multiple blankets to keep the heat in while you sleep.
Wear Warm Pyjamas: Flannel pyjamas and warm socks can make a big difference in staying cozy through the night.
Keep the Bedroom Door Closed: Keeping your bedroom door closed helps to trap the heat and prevent draughts from other parts of the house.
By embracing these simple, everyday habits, you can keep warm this winter without needing to rely heavily on your heating system. These tips are not only budget-friendly but also contribute to a more energy-efficient and comfortable home.

Central Heating Optimisation:

When it comes to keeping warm there is a whole host optimisations and fixes that you can implement with different types of central heating systems:

Embrace Off-Peak Hours

Many energy providers, including Octopus Energy, offer tariffs with lower rates during off-peak hours (read more on Octopus Energy’s Tariffs). By shifting energy-intensive activities, such as laundry, dishwashing, or electric vehicle (EV) charging, to these times, you can save significantly on your energy bills. Utilizing tools like Octopus Energy’s smart tariffs and Intelligent Octopus app can automate this process, ensuring you make the most of cheaper, off-peak electricity. Click here to read more about Off-Peak electricity.

Use Your Central Heating Controls More Efficiently

Central heating systems are a common feature in many UK homes, typically powered by a boiler that heats water to warm radiators. To make the most of your system and reduce energy waste, it’s crucial to understand and utilize your central heating controls effectively.

Understanding Your Controls:

Thermostat: Sets the desired temperature for your home. A thermostat turns off the heating once the set temperature is reached, preventing unnecessary energy use. Read more on smart thermostats here.
Timer/Programmer: Allows you to set specific times for your heating to turn on and off, ensuring it’s only on when needed; these can often be controlled by Apps.
Thermostatic Radiator Valves (TRVs): These control the temperature of individual radiators, allowing you to adjust the heat in different rooms according to usage. It is possible to purchase variable TRVs that cleverly identify when and how much to heat a room, such as Radbots [External Link].

How To Use Your Controls:

Set the Thermostat Wisely: The ideal home temperature for most people is between 18°C and 21°C. Lowering your thermostat by just 1 degree could save you up to 10% on your heating bills.
Use Timers Efficiently: Program your heating to turn on shortly before you wake up or return home, and off when you’re asleep or out, to avoid heating an empty house. If you are one of them people that get up and leave straight for work, you may be able to heat up with a bowl of porridge instead of using your central heating.
Adjust TRVs: In rooms that you use less frequently, consider setting the TRVs to a lower temperature. Just be cautious not to turn them off completely to prevent dampness and mould.
Check Your Boiler Flow Temperature: The boiler flow temperature is the temperature of the water that circulates through your radiators. Adjusting this can lead to significant savings.

Identifying Your Boiler Type:

Standard Boiler: Has a separate hot water tank. You should keep the flow temperature at 65°C to ensure hot water remains safe for use.
Combi Boiler: Heats water on demand without a separate tank. You can safely lower the flow temperature to reduce heating costs.

Adjusting the Flow Temperature:

Lower It Gradually: Start by reducing the flow temperature slightly and monitor if your home remains comfortably warm. This gradual approach ensures that your heating remains effective while saving energy.
Seek Guidance: If you’re unsure about adjusting the boiler settings, resources like Nesta’s Money Saving Boiler Challenge[External Link] can provide step-by-step instructions.

Optimize Your Heating and Cooling

Heating and cooling are typically the largest energy expenses in a home. Ensure that your home is well-insulated to prevent heat loss in winter and keep cool air inside during summer. Seal any gaps around doors and windows, and consider installing double glazing if you haven’t already. Regular maintenance of your HVAC system, including changing filters and cleaning ducts, can also improve efficiency.

Adjust Your Thermostat Use Smart Thermostats

Lowering your thermostat by just one degree in winter can reduce your heating bill by up to 10%. Similarly, in the summer, setting your thermostat a few degrees higher can result in significant savings. Programmable thermostats and smart thermostats, such as those offered by Hive [External Link] and Nest [External Link], allow you to set schedules and control your home’s temperature remotely, ensuring efficiency even when you’re not home. Smart thermostats, allow you to control your heating and cooling system more efficiently. These devices learn your habits and adjust the temperature automatically, ensuring optimal comfort and efficiency. With features like remote control, scheduling, and energy usage reports, smart thermostats are a key tool in enhancing your home’s energy efficiency.

Implement Zoning in Your Home

If your heating and cooling system allows, consider setting up zones in your home. Zoning lets you control the temperature of different areas independently, so you’re not wasting energy heating or cooling rooms that aren’t in use. This is particularly useful in larger homes where different parts of the house may have different temperature needs.

Keep Heat in Your Home

Once your home is warm, the next step is to keep it that way with minimal energy input. This involves preventing heat loss and making the most of the warmth already generated.

Practical Tips to Retain Heat: Close Curtains and Blinds: At night, keep curtains and blinds closed to reduce heat loss through windows. During the day, open them to let sunlight naturally warm your rooms.
Draught-Proof Your Home: Block draughts from doors, windows, chimneys, and floorboards. Simple measures like draught excluders for doors and letterboxes can make a big difference.
Use Secondary Glazing Film: If you don’t have double glazing, apply secondary glazing film to your windows. It’s an affordable and effective way to reduce heat loss.
Heated Throws and Blankets: These can provide personal warmth without needing to heat the whole house. They are inexpensive to run and can be a cozy way to stay warm.

Don’t Stop Heating Your Home

While it’s important to save on energy costs, you should never compromise your health by allowing your home to become too cold. A warm home reduces the risk of dampness, mould, and cold-related health issues.

Health Considerations:

Keep Rooms Warm: Ensure that your living space remains at a healthy temperature. For most people, this means keeping the thermostat between 18°C and 21°C.
Avoid Excessive Cost-Cutting: If you have health conditions that are aggravated by the cold, such as respiratory issues, avoid setting the thermostat below 21°C.

Focus on Heating a Single Room

Rather than trying to keep your entire home warm, concentrate on heating just one room where you spend most of your time. This is especially effective if you have a large house or live in an older, draughty property.

Create a Cozy Space: Choose the room where you spend the most time, such as the living room, and make it your warm retreat. Close the doors to keep the heat in and focus your efforts on keeping this room comfortable.
Use Electric Heaters Wisely: If you have an electric heater, use it in your main living area to supplement your central heating. Just be sure to turn it off when you leave the room to avoid wasting energy.
Draught-Proof the Room: Use door draught excluders to block cold air from entering under doors. You can make your own using rolled-up towels or buy inexpensive excluders designed for the purpose.

Take Advantage of Natural Light

During the day, maximize the use of natural light by opening curtains and blinds. This reduces the need for artificial lighting and helps warm your home naturally during the colder months. Skylights and light tubes can also be great additions to increase natural lighting in darker areas of your home.

Appliance Optimisation:

Appliances and lighting will use a big chunk of your electricity. Being sensible with how you use these will be vital to get your bill under control.

Switch to LED Lighting

Lighting accounts for a significant portion of your home’s energy use. Traditional incandescent bulbs consume a lot of energy and need to be replaced frequently. By switching to LED bulbs, you can use up to 80% less energy. LED bulbs last longer, produce less heat, and provide the same amount of light, making them an efficient choice for any room in the house. The electronics circuit boards in LED lights can still fail, so it is often worth buying quality LED bulbs from reputable brands that aren’t going to cut corners making it very likely that the bulbs can last for decades as there are no filaments to fail.

LEDs are the most efficient kind of lightbulb you can buy, followed by halogen gas bulbs and incandescent bulbs coming in dead-last as they often produce more heat than light making them incredibly inefficient.

Use Smart Power Strips or Unplug Appliances When Not in Use

Many appliances and electronics continue to draw power even when they’re turned off, a phenomenon known as “phantom load” or “vampire energy.” Items like phone chargers, microwaves, and televisions are common culprits. Unplugging devices when they’re not in use or using power strips to cut off electricity can save a substantial amount of energy over time. Power consumption plug meters can be purchased to verify what the offending appliances are.
Smart power strips automatically cut off power to devices that are in standby mode. Some models even allow you to schedule when devices should turn off, which is particularly useful for home offices or entertainment centres. This simple upgrade can help reduce energy waste without requiring you to remember to unplug everything.

Upgrade to Energy-Efficient Appliances

When it’s time to replace old appliances, choose models with high energy efficiency ratings (click here to learn more about appliance energy efficiency ratings). Look for the Energy Saving Trust’s recommended appliances [External Link], which are designed to consume less electricity. Refrigerators, washing machines, and dishwashers are particularly important, as they are used frequently and can significantly impact your energy consumption. If your appliances are over a decade old, they’re likely using more energy than necessary. Replacing them with modern, energy-efficient models can lead to significant energy savings.

Maintain Your Appliances and Systems

Regular maintenance of your home’s appliances and systems ensures they operate at peak efficiency. Schedule annual check-ups for your heating and cooling systems, and clean or replace filters as recommended by the manufacturer. Keep your refrigerator coils clean, defrost your freezer regularly, and descale your kettle to prevent unnecessary energy consumption.

Insulate Your Water Heater

Wrapping your water heater in an insulating blanket can prevent heat loss and reduce the energy required to keep your water hot. This is particularly useful for older water heaters, which tend to be less efficient. Additionally, lowering the temperature on your water heater to 49°C (120°F) can also save energy without compromising on comfort.

Install Water-Saving Fixtures and Practice Water Conservation

Heating water can be energy-intensive. By installing water-saving fixtures like low-flow showerheads and aerated taps, you reduce the amount of hot water used, lowering both your water and energy bills. Additionally, consider using cold water for laundry whenever possible, as heating water accounts for a large portion of the energy used by washing machines.

Reducing hot water usage can significantly lower your energy bills. Take shorter showers, fix leaky faucets, and install water-saving showerheads and taps. Consider washing clothes in cold water, as most of the energy used by washing machines goes into heating the water. If you have a dishwasher, avoid pre-rinsing dishes and let the machine do the work.

Optimize Your Water Heating System

Water heating accounts for a significant portion of your home’s energy use. Upgrading to an energy-efficient water heater, such as a tankless or on-demand water heater, can reduce energy consumption by heating water only when needed. Additionally, installing a timer on your water heater ensures it only operates when necessary, further reducing energy use.

Energy Efficient Home Improvement:

Whilst home improvements can be expensive, they eventually have to be done due to wear and tear. So you may as well focus on energy efficiency when you are performing the upgrades.

Keep the Warmth in with Simple Insulation

Even small measures can make a big difference in preventing heat loss from your home. These simple insulation tips are easy to implement and can help keep the cold at bay.
Block Unused Chimneys: If you have a chimney that you don’t use, consider blocking it off to prevent cold air from coming down. You can buy a chimney balloon or simply stuff it with newspaper or an old blanket. However be careful as this can be a risk, if the chimney might ever be used in the future.
Use Polystyrene: If you have doors to the eaves in under your roof or cellar doors for example, you might be able to insulate these with polystyrene sheets.

These are just two examples of ad-hoc insulation jobs, but when combined with professional loft/roof insulation and insulation via use of curtains it can all add up to quite an effective solution.

Upgrade Your Insulation

Proper insulation is one of the most effective ways to improve energy efficiency. It helps maintain a consistent indoor temperature by reducing heat loss in winter and keeping your home cool in summer. Key areas to insulate include the loft, walls, and floors. Insulating your loft can save up to 25% of your heating costs, while cavity wall insulation can reduce heat loss through walls by up to a third.

Install Double or Triple Glazing

Windows are a major source of heat loss in most homes. Double or triple glazing can significantly reduce heat transfer, keeping your home warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. Additionally, these windows help to reduce noise pollution and can increase the overall value of your property.

Seal Air Leaks

Gaps and cracks around windows, doors, and other openings in your home can lead to significant energy loss. Use weather stripping or caulk to seal these gaps and prevent drafts. Pay special attention to areas around plumbing, electrical outlets, and ducts, as these are common sources of leaks.

Install Energy-Efficient Doors and Windows

Beyond sealing gaps, consider upgrading to energy-efficient doors and windows designed with thermal breaks and low-emissivity (Low-E) glass. These features reduce the transfer of heat and can enhance the insulation of your home. When combined with proper insulation and glazing, they can lead to substantial energy savings.

Install Solar Panels

Solar panels can dramatically reduce your reliance on grid electricity by generating renewable energy from the sun. Although the initial investment can be significant, government incentives and reduced energy bills make solar panels a smart long-term investment. Pairing solar panels with battery storage, like those supported by Octopus Energy’s tariffs, allows you to store excess energy for use during peak times. Read more on Octopus’ solar offering here.

Install a Heat Pump

Heat pumps are highly efficient systems that provide both heating and cooling. They work by transferring heat from the outside air or ground into your home, using much less energy than conventional heating systems. Octopus Energy offers tariffs tailored for homes with heat pumps, helping you save even more on your energy bills and can even help with the procurement and installation of Octopus brand heat pumps.

Consider a Home Energy Audit

A professional home energy audit can provide detailed insights into where your home is losing energy and how you can improve its efficiency. Many energy providers, offer or can recommend services for conducting an audit. The audit results will help you prioritize future energy-saving improvements and optimize your overall energy strategy. They will have equipment such as thermal cameras to see where your home is losing heat and Power consumption plug meters to help measure any appliances that are particularly at fault.

Explore Grants for Energy-Saving Improvements

Making your home more energy-efficient can lead to substantial long-term savings. There are various grants and schemes available to help with the cost of home improvements such as insulation, new boilers, or heating upgrades. Check if you’re eligible for financial support to make these improvements more affordable. The Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) for example can help you towards the cost of a heat pump or a new energy efficient boiler.

Alternatively, whilst the Winter Fuel Payment Scheme wont help reduce your bills in the long run, it can be a stop gap if you are eligible with the government providing up to £300 in funding to help with your heating costs during the colder months.

Conclusion

Reducing energy waste in your household is all about making mindful choices and small changes that add up over time. By following these tips, you can lower your energy bills, reduce your environmental impact, and contribute to a more sustainable future. Stay tuned for Part 2 of our series, where we’ll explore ways to make your home more energy-efficient.

By implementing these tips, you can efficiently manage your home’s heating, reduce your energy bills, and maintain a comfortable living environment. Making small adjustments to your heating habits and system settings can lead to significant savings over time, without sacrificing warmth and comfort.