As a provider of money saving tips it’s important to look at ways to reduce our gas and electricity bills . Compared with the 1970’s we are using more gas and electricity today then ever before. The reason for this is the increase in the number of electrical products we now have plugged into our electrical supply and left on standby. We are also leaving our gas central heating on for longer periods of time compared to our parents. We are wastful of our gas and electricity resources often without thinking. We could reduce our utility costs and in turn protect our fuel resources with a little thought.
Are being mugged by your utility provider?
Everytime I pay my utility provider it feels like I am being mugged for cash as the cost just keeps rising. It often feels like my home is a supply station providing free gas and electricity to the all the homes in my area when I look at my gas and electricity bills. Dick Turpin at least wore a mask when he was robbing. So faced with increasing utility costs I started to investigate how I could reduce my gas and electricity costs. Here are my findings.
Government Grants website
Start by using the Government Grants website which provide a source of information for UK grants for gas central heating, loft insulation and cavity wall insulation. Government grants from 40% to 70% are available to homeowners and tenants for loft and cavity wall insulation. These grants are funded by the utility companies and are non-refundable. These grants will not be around forever and once the funding that has been allocated is exhausted they will finish. They also offer a solar heating grant of £400 towards the cost of installation of solar panels which cost around £4,000 depending on the size of your home. If you do not meet their eligibility criteria for free insulation, then grants from around 50% are available for loft insulation and cavity wall insulation, so you can still achieve a massive saving on the normal cost.
The Governments’ Energy Saving Trust Website
There are grants available to help us implement energy saving measures and help reduce our carbon foot print. The Governments’ Energy Saving Trust website provides grants and they have a wonderful search tool to help you find grants or offers that are available for you in your area. All you need do is complete the questions asked on their search for grants and offers page. You will then be presented with a list of providers offering discounted prices or grants in your area. This is a brilliant site and is packed with great advice and help for reducing your energy, saving money and reducing your carbon dioxide emissions from your home.
The future looks good!
What Savings can I expect from loft and cavity wall insulation?
Our homes lose 35% of their heating through the walls and 25% through the roof. At the Governments Energy Saving Trust website they have an Energy Saving House where they show you a full range of energy saving measures. For example by insulating the loft and having cavity wall insulation with a grant you could reduce you’re heating bills by around £365 a year and reduce your home’s carbon dioxide emissions by up to 1.5 tonnes.
You can complete their online Energy Savers report which allows you to understand your homes energy efficiency performance to reduce your energy use andbe more efficient. The average cost seems to be between £225 to £249 for either cavity wall insulation or loft insulation depending on the size of your home. I did discover that B&Q the DIY store was charging £199 for either cavity wall insulation or loft insulation depending on the size of your home. If you are over 70 years old you can receive loft insulation and cavity wall insulation for free from the Energy Saving Trust or the Government Grants website.
Old central heating boilers are inefficient
Changing you’re a central heating boiler that is over ten years old will reduce your gas bill as it is thought that these older central heating unit are only 70% efficient. This means that for every £1 of gas that you buy your old unit wastes 30pence of the money you pay for your gas. Add some heating controls taps to your central heating radiators and they could help save you a further 17% of your heating bill when fitted with a condensing boiler along with an upgraded heating control and you could be looking at a total reduction of as much as 40% of your heating bill providing a saving of £275 a year depending on the size of your home.
How to reduce your monthly utility bill
Here is a list solutions that are available to help you reduce your gas and electricity bill. The grants and discounts available will vary according to the size of your home, your location, your annual income and your age.
- Consider a portable Wireless Energy monitor to control your electrical wastage
- Grants for gas central heating depends on age and benefits being claimed
- Grants and discounts for loft insulation from £199
- Grants and discounts for cavity wall insulation from £199
- Grant of £400 towards the installation of Solar panels
- Replace existing light bulbs with Energy Saving Lightbulbs, they cost around £2 per bulb and you could expect to reduce around £45 before it needs replacing. These bulbs use 80% less electricity and will last ten times longer than a standard light bulb. Count the number of bulbs you need and see the savings.
- Update your Central heating unit if older then 10 years. Consider either a condensing boiler along with an upgraded heating control unit or replace it with a Combi Boiler as this will do away with a conventional hot-water storage cylinder and water tanks in the loft. Costs from £2,000
- Add heating controls tap to all your radiators, they cost from £7.99 each
- Switch Utility providers for a better deal.
- Switch your gas and electricity providers to a duel fuel provider if you have not already done this for further savings, save around £115
- Pay your utility bills monthly by direct debit for a further discount from your provider.
- Switch to an online account with your utility provider. You can now read your gas and electricity meters monthly and update the information for an accurate bill. This will prevent over billing from estimated assessments of your usage.
- If you are on a coin operated meter for your gas and electricity then consider switching as you are paying a premium for this facility.
- Switch off all light switches and plugs when the appliances are not in use.
- An estimated £910 million is wasted in the UK every year by people leaving televisions, computers, TV set-top boxes and radios on standby.
- Use a timer to turn your central heating on and off as required.
- Consider switching to Energy Saving Recommended household appliances as they could cut your energy consumption by up to a third compared to your old appliance. Obviously only do this as you replace broken or old appliances.
For further ways of reducing your gas and utility bill then you should visit the Energy Saving Trust website where you will find a mountain of further money saving ideas and help.
Wireless energy Monitors
If you’re serious about cutting your electricity bills, then fitting a wireless energy monitor should be your number one priority. Even though we all have electricity meters in our homes, they’re no use hidden away in a cupboard outside only to be read once or twice a year. You need to know how much electricity your home is using at anytime of the day or night. A wireless energy monitor will show you instantly how much electricity you’re using twenty four hours a day. Its reported by the manufacturers that you can save up to 20% off your electricity costs.
Furthermore, the Government are convinced that these ‘real time energy monitors’ will enable consumers to make genuine and sustained reductions in their energy usage habits that they intend to incorporate them into the proposed ‘Smart Meter’ roll out due to complete in 2020. This proposed upgrade to metering of energy in the UK is good news, but 2020 is a long way ahead. However, you don’t need to wait for one of these new Smart Meters to be installed before reaping the energy saving benefits of a wireless energy monitor. There is a good selection of wireless energy monitors available which can quickly and easily be added to any standard home electricity meter, so you can start making savings today. The prices of these monitor systems starting from just £24.95, the payback period for an average household should be considerably less than a year.
Anyone can reduce their Gas and Electricity bills
Anyone can reduce their Gas and Electricity bills by at least 20% following the sixteen ways listed above. Unfortunately, like most things you need to spend some money to make these reductions; but the rewards will return each month. By implementing a few of these thrifty ideas at home you will reduce your gas and electricity bills in the future. You are probably thinking I cannot afford to make all these changes. Start with the changes that cost the least and then work your way through the list above. Remember by making these changes you will not only save money each month but you will be helping our planet HOME by reducing your carbon dioxide emissions.
Your thoughts, experiences and comments are welcome. Just CLICK on the green coloured COMMENT bar below and Leave your thoughts or experiences today!
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I recently bought an energy monitor and have been putting it to good use. It is quite amazing to see which appliances are eating up the power and adding the biggest amounts to my electricity bills. As a result I started using the greatest electricity guzzlers more sparingly.
I switched utility providers, and I replace almost all of the bulbs in my house with the energy saver bulbs, and I am saving almost thirty dollars a month now. I tracked it for a year, and that is the average. Better in my pocket than theirs.
Yes me and my partner are being mugged by our providers. Unfortunately we life in a private letting that has power and gas card metres. Th boiler in the flat is as old as me (probably a G Grade Boiler). We go through about £60-£80 a week on gas alone in average sized two bedroom flat. really annoying so some of your tips have been useful. Thanks.
Some great tips in here on how to save money on your electricity. I have recently come across one of these gadgets that monitor the amount of energy you are using in your house. It is surprising just how much you can save when you do the little tips that posts like this give you. Thanks
Wireless energy Monitors – that’s the name of them. very handy tool to have. Save money and reduce your carbon emissions at the same time. Everybody wins.
Great post. I think you should do an article on remortgages – definitly a way to save A LOT of money every month.
I have found it so hard to find the best provider for gas and electric.
They all seem to be charging so much and how can we tell??
Very tricky one, but you have some great tips here – thank you for sharing.
Great article. I know we really need electricity for our everyday consumption. I think the best solution for not having high electricity bills is to reduce its use. I agree that switching off all light switches and plugs can really help lowering our bills.
I find the best way to save money is to switch off everything at night. i have saved quite a bit already from simply doing this.
Some great ideas, I’ve found it a nightmare to try and discover which supplier is cheapest over any sensible period of time! This will be very useful. Many thanks.
Great post thank you for sharing
Thanks for an excellent and informative post. We recently installed a wireless energy monitor and I was blown away at how much electricity we used to waste.
Updating your boiler can be costly but worth the effort. Just find out how efficient your old boiler is compared to the new one expressed as a % and you should be able to work out whether it’s worth the cost. I think I’m going to get that wireless energy monitor and save on some electricity!
Appliances left on standby use up to 85 percent of the energy they would use if fully switched on. Many of us with use the remote to switch off the tv or stereo, leaving the appliance running on standby. This means the appliance is still using up electricity and wastes a considerable amount of energy. By switching off at the main power button, or even the socket, you can save both energy and money.
Great article!! The four best ways to save on gas and electricity bills are:
1. Reduce Energy Consumption – Unplug your appliances. Hang Dry clothing. Take a cold shower every now and then:)
2. Improve Home Efficiency – Insulation is great place to start. Planting a tree next to your home or adding a rooftop garden can lower energy use significantly.
3. Create your own energy – Government grants are a great place to start. Solar Panels are getting cheaper and with government rebates this is becoming a viable option. Some cities/countries even buy any excess energy you produce. One city in Germany even pays a premium for this energy!
4. Change gas and electricity providers – Switching suppliers can help significantly lower your bills. Also, consider going with a green energy supplier.
The key is to take action and you will begin saving quickly. Plus, you’ll be helping the environment.
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My tip is to put tinfoil behind raditors so that heat is reflected back into the room…
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A great way to save money on your energy bills is to insulate your loft properly. Take a look at: http://www.insulate-me.com/ they are offering £2.50 a roll on loft insulation with FREE delivery
One of the best ways to save electricity around the home to keep your home warmer in the cold months. A great way of doing this is to invest in insulation such as cavity wall. The carbon and eventual cost savings of insulating our homes is terrific and typical savings for cavity wall insulation for example is:
* Typical cost: £250 * Typical carbon: 610kg * Typical payback: 2 years
If you have an older ‘solid wall’ home. These can indeed be difficult and expensive to insulate, however there are methods other than external cladding.
Solid wall insulation can be performed in several ways, with the best being involving adding an extra layer to the inside face of exterior walls – either boards within a narrow wooden frame or a clever flexible material called Sempatap.
Either way it is expensive, and the return on investment is longer, but the carbon savings are great.
* Typical cost: £5,500 – £8,500 (internal) £10,500 – £14,500 (external) * Typical carbon: 2000kg * Typical payback: Varies, but normally at least 10 years
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My tip is to leave your central heating on for 24 hrs a day!!! Simply keep the thermostat turned down to as low as you can stand it. We have managed 18degrees centigrade. The boiler only fires up for a short time to ‘maintain’ the temperature for a very short period instead of having to start from cold every time thus costing more. Wear a cardy in the house etc and do basic techniques such as not using a tumble dryer, and we’ve saved loads.
We are very fortunate these days because of all the efforts being done to make our lives easier, at the same time focus on alternative ways to increase our renewable energy resources.
I also read another article on energy resources that might interest others at:
http://www.squidoo.com/Renewable-energy-resoures
Thank you for sharing your ideas on saving for electricity.
thanks for the post im gonnna check that out now, great article
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