An expert has revealed how vacuuming your fridge could help save money on your energy bills – as it can cut its energy consumption by up to 25 per cent.
Sharing her top tips on how to cut down on the electricity appliances use, Emily Seymour, energy editor at the consumer magazine Which?, said there are some “easy things you can do” to reduce energy consumption in your home.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, she said: “At Which? we have been spending the last couple of months really focusing on what should the government be doing and what should energy companies be doing.
“Which of course is really important, but I think it is worth people remembering that there are lots you can do at home if you are worried about your energy bills, which we all are.
“To try and make sure we are using everything in our houses as efficiently as we are and keeping those bills down as much as we can.”
She went on to say that that you firstly need to consider how you can use your home appliances more efficiently.
“When you think about all the big electricity drawers in your house, most of those are going to be white goods, your fridge, a freezer, a washer machine – those kinds of things,” she continued.
“And those are all things that we use a little bit kind of casually you know – washing machines and dishwashers especially. You can try and make sure you are using them a little bit less, maybe running them full up to the max rather than sort of as and when you need them.”
Vacuuming your fridge was a tip Ms Seymour learnt from the Which? fridge team.
“There are filters on the side of your fridge which are bringing air in and out and helping the refrigeration process,” she explained.
“If you make sure you vacuum those, clean the dust out you can make them about 25 per cent more efficient – fridge freezers use quite a lot of energy, they are on all the time, it is pretty energy-intensive to cool things down.
“I thought that was quite a good one, just going around your house and making sure everything is working as efficiently as they can.”
Ms Seymour also suggested switching to an air fryer or a microwave instead of an oven if you are cooking smaller portions.
“If you think about it, ovens use a lot of energy and a lot of electricity to heat quite a big space, so if you are cooking something that is really small, putting it into a smaller space like an air fryer or a microwave, you have a look at them, you might find that they are more energy efficient to use because they are heating a much smaller space,” she said.
“That’s not necessarily true for every appliance but if you have a smart meter with a device that shows you your energy uses. I would say it is worth doing a little test if you have chips that you frequently cook or something like that.
“Just to have a look at the different appliances that you have got and see which one is using the most energy as you might see that the whole process of heating up the oven, cooking whatever it is. The oven working at full potential just for a small amount of food could be the least efficient way of doing it.”
Seymour added that, to prepare for winter, people need to ensure that their homes are “cosy”.
“Once we get into winter again and people’s thermostats start coming on and people’s heaters are on – that is really where the most of your energy goes.
“I would just say that electricity and the appliances are worth having a look at but actually, when it comes to it sourcing out your central heating – making sure your boiler is operating as efficiently as it can – if you haven’t had a boiler service yet this year, book that in as that can be a really good way to make sure that is operating efficiently.
“Only heat the rooms that actually need to be heated and just get all that draft proofing in place and make sure your home is nice and cosy before we get into the winter – that is going to be the big one.”
Additional reporting by SWNS
