Martin Lewis has shared the ultimate home efficiency checklist to help households across the country reduce usage and keep heating bills as low as possible in what he described as a “tough winter” ahead. The consumer champion took viewers of his Money Show Live on a virtual tour of a typical house highlighting key areas of opportunity to reduce energy usage.
He told ITV viewers: “There are so many things you can do to make your home energy efficient, I’ve got a checklist here and you will know some of them, but this is really just about making sure that you’re doing it.”
The founder of MoneySavingExpert.com then reeled off simple measures including fitting a free water-saving shower head, the merits of turning the thermostat down by just one degree, using your curtains ‘tactically’, making sure your fridge is running at the right temperature and the simple boiler tweak that most people are aware of to save anywhere between £100 and £200 - turning your water flow temperature down.
Free water-saving devices
Martin explained how there are 900,000 freebies on the Save Water Save Money website aimed at helping households cut costs. All you have to do is visit the website, pop in your postcode and it will show you all the available free items you can order.
Freebies on offer include:
- Shower heads which pump air to help reduce water usage, shower timers
- Toilet flushing bag which cuts down on water used per flush
- An easy-to-fit kitchen tap swivel attachment with an inbuilt 8 litre per minute flow regulator with two spray patterns and soft grip
- Simple and effective silicone sink plug for your bathroom basin or kitchen sink
Martin explained how fitting the shower head alone could save households £50 each year on your heating bill, if you’re having lots of showers.
Boiler challenge which could save £100 each year
Martin’s biggest potential savings winner is the Boiler challenge, something he urged viewers to try in a previous edition of the show.
He highlighted how the MoneySaving Boiler Challenge has nothing to do with MoneySavingExpert.com, but is run by a charity called Nesta.
According to their website, some 109,077 people have now taken the challenge and are saving money, simply by adjusting their flow temperature.
Martin explained how this challenge involves turning the flow temperature on your combi boiler down to 60 degrees.
It's worth noting this is simple to do on a combi boiler and doesn't involve anything other than tweaking some settings on the front of the unit. For other boilers, you may need to seek professional help.
Martin explained: “You’d normally want it to be around 60 degrees, but most people’s boilers are set higher - that’s really inefficient as it’s not just using that it’s using more heat, it’s inefficient.
“You can turn this down, it won’t affect the heat of your house, it’ll still be the same temperature, it won’t affect your hot water temperature - it might take slightly longer to get up to the maximum temperature, but it can cut £100 a year off your bill and is well worth everyone doing.”
He added: “This is an absolute no-brainer, everyone with a combi boiler should be trying this one.”
Martin’s one degree thermostat challenge
The financial guru urged households to take his one degree challenge, which involves turning your heating thermostat down by just one degree, which could save 10% on annual energy bills.
Martin explained: “The World Health Organisation says 18 degrees is fine for healthy adults - younger, older or ill, you might need more.”
Most of the studio audience of ‘wallet watcher’ admitted their thermostat was not at 18 degrees.
Martin said: “It’s not for me to tell you what to do, but I’d like you to try reducing one degree - say you’re at 21 degrees, try reducing to 20 degrees.
“That could save you around 10% on your heating bill.”
Martin also advised people not to instantly crank the thermostat up if the house is cold, he suggest putting it on as normal and letting it get to the desired temperature and then seeing if you need to turn it up.
Use tactical curtains
Despite how it sounds, this doesn’t involve buying special curtains, it’s about being smarter with the ones you’ve got.
Martin explained: ‘When the sun is shining, it’s letting light and heat into the house, so you want the curtains open. When it gets dark, it’s not, you want to keep the heat in, so close the curtains.
"I know we all know that, but actually doing it rigorously can help insulate especially if you line it with a fleece and there are lots of tips online on how to do that really cheaply - do it yourself.”
Check your fridge
Martin also urged everyone to check the temperature setting on their fridge and freezer.
He said: “Five degrees is what your fridge needs to be set to, minus 18 for your freezer. If it’s colder, you’re wasting too much money.”
Martin has a full list of heating saving tips on MoneySavingExpert.com including draught-proofing, putting insulation behind your radiators, keeping the hot water in a bath after you’ve finished and maximising washing or tumble dryer loads to make the most of the energy you’re using - read it here.
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