The ongoing cost of living crisis looks to have no end in sight, with UK residents constantly coughing up extreme amounts of money for energy bills, groceries and other necessities - day in day out.
So it comes as no surprise that many are looking for a cheaper means of staying warm over the colder months, with the UK across winter seeing wild winds and freezing temperatures forcing people to crank up their heating.
And while many may have some bases covered when it comes to tips and tricks to cut down on energy expenditure, there are no doubt a number of areas for improvement, with savings to be had in each.
Read more: Pensioners entitled to cost of living payment could get £1,350 in extra support this year
So Chronicle Live has rounded up ten money-saving appliances and gadgets which users are praising for their energy and money-saving capabilities.
10) Portable heaters
Portable heaters have become all the rage, with many swearing that they are far cheaper to run than a home's central heating system. A great example is Dunelm's DF Fan Heater, which is said to cost only 68p per hour to run - and it'll only cost you a retail price of £14.
Elsewhere, Argos are also selling a slightly more expensive albeit larger portable heater for £32 - with punters leaving rave reviews about theirs. One five-star review, read: "Warming electric heater that is much cheaper to run than the central heating."
A second, added: "I bought this to heat up my lounge for when I wfh as I didn’t want to have the gas on constantly given the rising costs at the moment. My lounge is a fairly large room so I was worried that it may not be as effective as I’d hoped - however it is fantastic.
"Blasts hot air and heats up the room within minutes. No complaints whatsoever!"
9) Heated airiers
We all know by now that tumble dryers cost a small fortune to run, but with the UK's weather being so unpredictable, how else are we supposed to dry our clothes quickly, efficiently and cheaply?
Well many shoppers have recently been bamboozled by heated clothes airers - which come in far cheaper than running a drying machine.
Wowcher currently have a special offer on a usually £249 appliance from Hirix, reducing it to just £34.99. That's a saving of 86 per cent to be precise. Elsewhere, Discount Experts have reduced a normally £99.99 airer to just £39.99, while Lakeland have a 10p to run per hour, three-tier heated clothes airer on sale for £44.99.
8) Hooded blankets
I myself have an Oodie which I received as a birthday present last year, and I've never looked back since. Instead of turning the heating on each morning or evening, I instead slip into my hooded blanket to quickly warm up.
And while Oodies can be quite expensive, with my particular colourway costing £49 on sale, a number of other brands have brought out hooded blankets for far cheaper. For example, Dunelm are flogging them for £11.20, Amazon have them in stock for just £12.99, John Lewis have Ony's for sale for £8.99, and Online Home Shop sell them for £11.
Bargain!
7) Hot water bottles
Hot water bottles are a fantastic way of warming up on the chillier months, and most of us probably have one lying around our house somewhere already. Far cheaper than turning the heating on, a quick boil of the kettle poured into a common hot water bottle can keep you cosy for hours, especially when paired with a nice fluffy blanket.
And to keep the heat in even more, who not invest in a sleeve for your HWB?
For those who can't locate their old ones, Argos sell them for as little as £8.50, while you can bag one for as cheap as £5.39 on Amazon. Don't forget to use them safely by checking the use by date (yes, even hot water bottles have one).
6) Air fryers
Last year Chronicle Live ran a story after we tried using an air fryer instead of an oven for a week to see if was feasible and actually saved money. If we carried on at the time, we would have seen an average saving of 30p a day, £2.10 a week, around £9 a month and more than £100 a year.
So it comes as little surprise that people have recently been ditching their conventional fan ovens for the cheaper electrical devices. And you can pick them up relatively cheap too, with Aldi selling one for £34.99, Homebargains for £44.99 and Argos for just £56.
5) Draught excluders
If you want to make your home as efficient as possible and drive down high energy bills, taking a look at your insulation is a good place to start.
UK homes are some of the least-insulated properties in the world, and it's costing the families that live in them hundreds of pounds of wasted energy every year.
Many are put off the idea of spending thousands on professional insulation, especially during a cost of living crisis, but insulating your home does not always have to be tricky or expensive and even simple DIY remedies can have a major impact on your energy bills.
And draught insulators are a good place to start, keeping the warm in and the cold out. You can pick them up from a range of places for less than £10 on Amazon, Dunelm and Etsy.
4) Smart Plugs
More of an effort saver than a cost saver in absolute terms, but if crawling around on your hands and knees to switch off plugs isn't for you, these nifty gadgets could save you money. We all know that all household appliances should be turned off at the wall when not in use - but how many people diligently go around the house every night doing so?
For some households where computers, phone chargers, game consoles, set-top boxes and printers are always plugged in and on standby, the annual saving might be as much as £50. This cost could be nipped in the bud with a smart plug, which you can either control by the smart pohone or via a smart speaker such as Alexa.
If you want to be really clever, you can even group everything together, so you can turn everything off at once. You can buy smart plugs from around £10, such as this one, or buy a few together to save money.
3) Eco shower heads
Taking a shower rather than bath can save water and energy, but you can save even more by fitting a water-efficient shower head, like this one.
These heads uses 60 per cent less water than a traditional one, and as it uses less water, it takes less energy to heat the water, so it's a win-win. A four-minute shower every day might save the average person £40 a year on their energy bill, and money off their water bill too.
That adds up to a £160 saving of £160 for a family of four.
2) LED bulbs
In terms of bangs for your buck, you can't beat the energy savings you get from a little LED light bulb. A traditional 60-watt halogen light bulb left on for ten hours a day can add £25 a year to your energy bill, but the equivalent LED bulb, which only uses 15 per cent of the energy, will consume just £4 of electricity.
Multiply that by 10 bulbs, and the difference is £210 a year - so you can see how the savings add up, with the average home using 34 lightbulbs. The cost of LED bulbs has plummeted in recent years to as little as £2 each, and the new LEDs no longer emit harsh light or take ages to warm up, so it's a complete no-brainer.
You can get LED bulbs from any Screwfix, B&Q, Toolstation and even on Amazon.
1) Energy monitors
A plug-in energy monitor could be the smartest £10 you spend this year, as it shows you exactly how much electricity your appliances and gadgets are eating up when they are use. A plug-in monitor differs from a smart meter because it shows real-time information for each gadget individually, rather than the overall energy consumption in your home.
This allows you to make an informed decision on what to use and what to forgo, as well as allowing you to make decisions about how long you can afford to use gadgets and tech.
An energy monitor alone won't save you energy - but it will make you aware of how much energy you're using. It's a great tool to help you change behaviour and cut your bills. You can see the effects are of leaving appliances on stand-by, or using an air fryer instead of an oven, for example.
Amazon are currently flogging energy monitors for as little as £8.69, while Screwfix stock them at £17.99.
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