The festive season can be a huge strain on your wallet, and that's before you start shopping for the best Christmas gifts. Christmas lights and heated rooms can significantly boost energy consumption, with experts warning that bills could climb by up to £300 during the festive season.
To help you manage these extra costs, the heating specialists at BestHeating have joined forces with energy expert William Hobbs from MyJobQuote to provide practical tips for saving money on your energy bills this Christmas.
Read on for their expert advice and discover simple ways to keep more money in your pocket this festive season.
1. Switch to LED Christmas decorations
It’s no surprise that homeowners experience a surge in energy bills over Christmas, but experts reveal that simply switching to LED Christmas tree lights can save £40 a month.
Hobbs comments: “A string of traditional Christmas tree lights uses around 20W of power while an LED version will typically use 3.6W. This means that if you were to have your tree lit up for eight hours a day with traditional lights, it would cost you £1.21 while LEDs would cost 22p. Even upgrading one set of lights will save on electricity bills.”
2. Use a timer for Christmas decorations
A top tip for those that forget to turn their Christmas lights off when they go to bed or leave the house is to set a timer.
Hobbs adds: “Setting a timer for Christmas decorations could help to reduce energy consumption significantly, falling asleep with them on could add another £10 to energy bills. Another option is to use lights with a smart plug or switch so that you can control lights through a phone, turning them on and off as you wish.”
3. Avoid leaving the heating on all day
Jess Steele, heating and technology expert at BestHeating says: “When it is only 2°C outside you will want the heating on all day, but if it’s around 10°C, target the morning and evening when the sun isn’t out to feel true effects. Save money by ensuring your heating is on a timer so it is only used for a few hours per day. By cutting usage from 12 hours to six, you could save up to £150.”
4. Unplug electronics and electricals that aren’t in use
Some electricals, such as laptops, will still use a small amount of energy even when the device itself is turned off so it’s important to unplug these to see a reduction in bills.
Hobbs continues: “Some electricals such as kettles, DAB radios and air fryers are illuminated or have digital displays so they will use electricity while they’re not in use unless they’re switched off at the plug. Although electricals don’t typically use more than 0.5W when left on standby or in sleep mode, if you have ten or more electricals that are wasting power in this way, switching them off could save £2, enough to buy an extra pack of pigs in blankets for Christmas dinner.”
5. Only heat the rooms you use
A mistake many homeowners will make over Christmas when looking to stay toasty is heating the whole property, but Jess at BestHeating advises only heating the rooms that are in use.
“Turning off radiators in rooms that are not in use will not only allow your boiler to work more efficiently, it will make the room you are in warm up faster and could help to save up to £115 a month on heating if used daily. Just make sure not to turn radiators off in the room with the thermostat or it will cause the boiler to work harder and affect temperatures around the rest of the home.”
