We're all looking for money saving tips at the moment, especially as this month’s energy bill is set to be the most expensive for most UK households after energy price hikes and a new price cap. Simple tips on how to save money are being highlighted and even ITV 's This Morning programme has been on hand to offer helpful advice.
Alice Beer, Consumer Expert on the show shared her handy tips to help homeowners cut the costs of their energy bills, according to the Express. She also revealed the best times to be using appliances such as a dishwasher and washing machine.
Discussing the energy efficiency for the appliances, she said: “Never, ever doing half loads. One full load is much less energy than two half loads, that’s obvious. It’s more efficient to use a dishwasher than washing up by hand - especially if you keep a tap running.
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“Then think about what you’re using in the kitchen - kettle, it honestly saves you money and helps the UK’s electricity supply if you’re just boiling the amount of water you need. Think about using the microwave instead of using a cooker when you can - much cheaper to use a microwave,” the expert added.
“Lots of people asking me if should I switch to an off-peak tariff, look at how that works for you. We should all be thinking of using a lot less energy in that peak period [which is] 6pm-8pm at night. Can you switch to having your meal a bit earlier or later perhaps? Certainly not using the dishwasher between 6-8pm is a no-go,” Alice remarked.
Speaking from her home, she also had some advice for reducing water consumption and in turn, bills. Alice explained: “There are three different thermostatic controls that you should have a look at. The first one is the one that is usually in your hall and it’s a dial.
“A lot of people won’t have their heating on at the moment, according to British Gas, the majority of the nation will switch theirs on in the week beginning October 24, that’s half term week and when it gets about 9 degrees outside, we turn the heating on. One in five have got that set at 22 degrees - that's Lanzarote temperatures!” She exclaimed. "What it should be set at is somewhere around 18 degrees. We know that if you turn it down one degree, that will save you - with current figures - at least £80 a year. So that is one vital thing that we should all be doing.”
She continued: “The second thermostatic control is on your radiators, if you’ve got a valve on your radiator you need to be controlling that to get to the right temperature. “Most importantly, you need to turn that right off if you’re not using a room - spare room, dining room, any room that you don’t use very often, turn the valve off.
"The third control is the one that not many know about, and it’s the one running through your hot water system. If you run a bath or fill a bowl of water to wash up, and you’re heating your water to a certain temperature, and then you’re having to add cold water, then think about how you’re wasting money there; paying to heat up water and then adding cold, it makes no sense."
On an altogether darker note, Alice concluded: “Also, prepare yourself. If those blackouts do come we need to start the conversation about having torches and candles and power packs ready. Hopefully it won’t happen and hopefully we will all be much more aware of what we’re using and when so we don’t get blackouts.”
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