My article and Facebook Live last week about energy savings was popular and was read by a huge number of people, so I continue this week on the same subject.
I'm sharing my favourite freebies and gadgets to help you to reduce your energy and water bills.
They could come in handy as energy bills are due to jump for millions of homes from next month.
Ofgem has announced its energy price cap will rise by £693 for those on default tariffs who pay by direct debit - up from £1,277 to £1,971.
Prepayment customers will see an increase of £708 from £1,309 to £2,017.
Bills for water and sewage in England and Wales are also going up and are due to rise 1.7% on average this year.
Energy grants
These are two sources of help with your energy bills if you are struggling to pay them. Firstly, £150million was given to local councils recently.
Get in touch with them directly to understand the process of application for the grant and to see if there are still funds remaining.
Most energy providers have also set aside a hardship fund.
I can confirm that Octopus Energy (my personal energy provider) has done this - they recently emailed with a useful update on energy prices and what they are doing to help their customers.
Again, get in touch with your energy company to enquire about these hardship grants if you are struggling to make payments/on low income.
Warm Home Discount
Be quick as this is only available until the end of March. It is available to those on low income or pension credits.
This is a credit taken off your energy bill and you will need to speak to your energy supplier to understand the process.
You can read more about this scheme here.
Smart meters
Many households have these installed, but if you haven’t got one yet you can ask your energy company to install the device for free.
This will provide real-time energy usage and cost information to you and your energy provider meaning bills are more accurate and you can monitor your energy usage.
The smart meter itself won’t save you money, but it will provide you with information to enable you to change behaviours and thus save usage and money off your bills.
Radbots
This is a clever gadget that attaches to your radiator controller. It learns how you use a room and controls the heating to match it.
No need for fancy thermostats or engineer set up visits, it's an easy way to reduce your energy usage.
Radiator reflectors
This is a product that is fitted behind radiators that are on external facing walls and will stop heat escaping out of the walls.
A freebie way of doing this is to insert tin foil behind the radiator to reflect the heat back into the room doing the same job for less investment!
Freebies from your water supplier
Go visit your water provider online for free water saving products.
My local company South East Water has a huge variety of devices to make a difference your water usage.
Reducing water consumption will also reduce energy bills as around 25% of your heating bill is for heating water.
What's helping you cut your bills? Let us know in the comments section below
Use a shower timer or toothbrush timer
I received a free shower timer from my water company. Cutting your family’s time in the shower by just one minute can cut £120 a year from your energy and water bill.
This is based on a family of four, £60 water saving and £60 energy saving.
Use a toothbrush timer to time those two minutes and turn the tap off whilst brushing.
A running tap wastes six litres of water every minute that it runs!
Use a bathbuoy for children’s baths
I love this product for bath time fun for young children, or alternatively a comfy footrest for adults.
An inflatable device that sticks to the bottom of the bath using suction pads, reducing the need to fill the bath with so much water.
It saves up to 30 litres of water in each bath.
Tap and shower regulators
There are free devices available that will restrict the water flow from taps and showers to ensure that less water used when taps are switched on.
Using a few of these devices will make a difference to your bills, some in a small way, some more substantial.
Give it a go to save money and save the environment.
