A savvy dad has revealed he saves around £2,000 each year on household bills by enforcing a daily 'blackout hour'. Emmanuel Asuquo, 37, who lives with his partner and their four children, saw his household energy bills soar from £200 to £450 and has since introduced fun ways to teach his kids how to keep their consumption low.
The dad-of-four, who works as a financial advisor, switches of all their household appliances for an hour every day in order to save money. Emmanuel says that during the daily blackout hour, his children read books or do their homework.
The money-saving dad also says he rewards his four children Malachi, 10, Ethan, nine, Elle, seven, and Mia-Rae, three, with sweets or other treats for turning lights and taps off.
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Emmanuel and his family now watch TV together and eat at the same time to avoid extra energy costs, as well as swapping expensive cinema trips for home movie nights and spending more time doing free outdoor activities together.
"After dinner every night we have black-out hour. We turn all appliances off and read or do homework," he said.
“There are six of us in the house and we had to learn how we can manage as a family. We eat together and rather than everyone being on their own appliances and charging everything at once, we will use one appliance together.
"It's brought us closer together and by making these changes we have reduced our energy consumption by 45% and I would say we are saving around £2k over the year."
This week Martin Lewis advised Brits to try and lower their consumption between the energy rush hours of 4pm and 7pm - and said one way of doing this is by not putting a wash on.
Emmanuel said: "I completely agree with Martin Lewis' advice to try not to wash between the hours of 4 and 7pm as they are the peak times for demand and it's putting a strain on the energy grid. You just have to ask yourself - 'do I really need to wash my clothes at this time?'
"If not, perhaps you could wash them overnight or in the morning to reduce the likelihood of a power cut."
Before March 2022 the Asuquo family paid £200 a month for their electricity and energy bills and now they have more than doubled to £450 and will increase to £500 next month.
To save as much as possible, the family of six have taken to doing things together rather than individually in different rooms.
Emmanuel said: "Reading has become such a big thing in our family, we go to the bookshop and buy physical books. My daughters read to me and I read to them. We don't need so much influence from social media and the outside world."
In September 2022, Emmanuel paid £600 to have his boiler serviced and for draft proofing done - making his home more energy efficient.
The dad-of-four claims his consumption has reduced by 40% by making these changes.
Emmanuel, from Bromley, South East London, said: "You have to ask what is in your power to change. We have our heating on less and have it on a timer - the kids now wrap up in hoodies and jumpers instead of having it on all the time."
Installing a smart meter has helped the family visually see their consumption and the kids compete to be the biggest saver each week.
Emmanuel said: "We have a points chart and whoever doesn't leave a light on or turns a tap off gets a point. Every week the person with the most points gets to pick a treat for the rest of the family, for example sweets or doughnuts."
Emmanuel said: "We book things further in advance, for example we booked Chessington World of Adventures off season and it was a lot cheaper. We go for a lot more walks now and we're still creating so many memories. It's not about how much you spend, it's about how much time you spend with them.
"It's a really hard time and don't put too much pressure on yourself, everybody can do their small part to make a difference."
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