Mum reveals 5 hacks to slash energy bills - including £80 thermostat trick

Every day I read comments from Mrs Mummypenny followers on social media sharing their energy bill renewal prices.

I am still astounded and shocked each time I see these huge bill increases. Sadly, it is common to now see £200-plus monthly bills, increases of more than 100%.

The price of energy is out of our control, but what we can control how much energy we use.

I have been using these tried and tested energy usage reduction tips and have reduced my bill by at least £300 a year.

My children are engaged in this energy saving mission and are a huge help with the bill reductions.

Lynn keeps track of her money savings (Tim Merry)

We talk about the cost of the bills, and they are keen to help mum to save as much as possible by changing their behaviours.

I have a smart meter, a useful part of understanding our energy usage.

The device itself doesn’t save you energy, but it gives key real time, hourly, daily, monthly information on your energy usage allowing you to track what you are spending and saving.

I made these five changes to my energy use and saved more than £200 (based on my energy prices and smart meter information from Octopus Energy).

Are you worried about paying your energy bills? Let us know: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk

1. I saved a huge £80 per year by turning my thermostat down by just one degree. A small change from 21 degrees to 20 degrees for the six months a year when the heating is needed.
2. I bought a shower timer and asked everyone in the family to shower for five minutes a day only. This resulted in an £80 a year saving.
3. I have totally stopped using the tumble dryer, using a clothes airer instead. Each tumble dryer cycle was costing around £1, prudently assuming I used it twice a week, this is a saving of £104 a year.
4. All appliances are switched off at the wall, nothing is left on standby. This minor change saves around £30 per year.
5. A super simple change is to only boil the kettle for the one or two cups of tea/coffee you are making. This has saved around £7 per year.

There are lots of other changes you can make to save energy usage and reduce those bills too.

• Convert all your lightbulbs to low energy bulbs.
• Ensure lights are always switched off in rooms not being used. Something that took a while of nagging the children to change their habits.
• The oven, hob and microwave all use a lot of energy. Consider a slow cooker where you can
• make money saving meals and save energy.
• If you are using your oven, batch cook bigger quantities of food. Make the most of the time the oven is switched on.

• Ditch the hairdryer, let your hair dry naturally. Or you can plait your longer hair for a natural wavy look rather than using hair wavers.
• Unplug laptops, tablets and phone as soon as they are fully charged.
• Switch off the radiators in any rooms in your house that you don’t use, particularly if you are at home alone.
• To keep a room as warm as possible and to keep the heat in, shut the doors and pull the curtains shut.
• Use draft excluders, especially for doors that open to the outside of your property. You can easily make a draft excluder by stuffing an old pair of tights with odd socks or old clothes.
• Layer up at home with jumpers, woolly socks blankets and a hot water bottle.

Choose the changes that are easiest for you to make or do them all and save £100s on your annual energy bill.