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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Cormac O'Shea

Expert wows RTE's Claire Byrne Live with two simple tips that could save Irish households €1,000 a year

An expert has told of two simple methods that could save Irish households as much as €1,000 a year amid soaring inflation.

Energy and fuel prices are now sky high but that doesn't mean there isn't ways of bringing those bills down.

Paul Deane of the Environmental Research Institute appeared on RTE's Claire Byrne Live where he shared easy tips to save you money.

Paul acknowledged that "not everyone can do" what he recommends "but those who can should do it".

When it comes to heating, Mr Deane said: "Most Irish thermostats are at 21C, drop that to 18C and you'll save €500 a year.

"18C is something doable for a lot of us."

The second big saving comes from not using your car for shorter trips, Paul explained.

He told host Claire: "About 40% of petrol and diesel is used for short trips, 8km or less.

"One in every five of those, if you cut them out you'd save another €500 a year.

"€500 for using the car less and another 500 for just turning your thermostat down a bit."

And these methods might be necessary for quite some time as the expert isn't predicting prices to dip anytime soon, he added: "Unfortunately we are looking at energy prices that will last one to two years at least."

And mechanic Aoife Murray had some extra tips for saving on your diesel or petrol expenses, suggesting you turn off your car if stuck in traffic, recommending people drive "smoothly and not aggressively", avoid "harsh breaking", make sure you have correct tyre pressure and keeping the car properly maintained.

The final piece of advice was to take out "junk in the boot" which is adding more weight to your car and burning more fuel.

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