Energy Saving Simple Tips

Let's be honest, the majority of us are not going to make major changes to our lifestyle unless the price of utilities (electricity, gas, water, oil and petrol) go much higher than they are now. It takes a lot to make people change their ways, that's human nature.

There are a number of simple things you can do, however, to reduce your energy bills, help the environment and your pocket without radical change in your way of living or your comfort.

Heating

To really make a dent in your heating costs you should insulate up to a modern standard and control your heating better. An old heating system in a house with 1970's standard insulation probably gives you the potential to halve your heating bills without spending too much. I've put a more detailed article on reducing your heating bills here.

Even with a fairly modern heating system in a well-insulated house you can make a significant saving by turning the thermostat down a little. If you have your thermostat set at 20 degrees and the outside temperature is 15 degrees, you are raising the temperature by 5 degrees. Now, if you turn this down by 1 degree, which you probably won't even notice, you are raising the temperature by 4 degrees. This is 20% less. Yes, that's right – the difference between 5 and 4 is 20% saving in heating costs. Overall, it will probably save you less, around 10% overall but that is well worth having for nothing.

The other simple trick is to make sure your time controls work for you. They aren't set in stone, you know. If you set them to come on a bit before you get up to ensure the house is warm in the morning, consider reducing that time in Spring and Autumn from the Winter setting. If everyone goes out in the day, turn the heating off half an hour before you leave. This means the house will be cooling when you are putting your coats on, so it won't affect your comfort. Finally on this topic, do turn your heating off altogether when the weather is warm If it goes cool again you can switch it back on.

Lighting

I've written an article on the benefits of low energy lighting, do read it. The other tip that can save you even more money is to use the light switch. With modern low-energy systems, if the light is going to be off for more than 3 minutes it is beneficial to turn it off. In years gone by fluorescent lights were better left on as they took a real surge in power to get them going. This has not been true for many years, but people still think it is the case.

Standby

One area where we use a lot of energy for little benefit is in standby mode. Unfortunately, if you switch off your video or satellite at the mains it will probably loose its settings or take time to reboot. However, there are lots of other appliances that now have these blessed standby systems.

I work on a computer and, apart from the actual box, I have two monitors, two printers (one colour, one B&W laser) and a scanner. In standby they use about 8 watts each. By using the manual off switch on them, I save 40 watts. Over a year that is something in the region of 350 KW hours per annum. Just for a few seconds 'work' we save about £35.00. Not a lot, but why throw it away? (If you want to throw money away, please contact me. I'm happy to collect as well)

If it's a problem switching off manually, why not get an intelligent plug that will detect the computer is off and cut the power to the peripherals. This device is simple to use, requires no thought or effort apart from plugging in and will save that power saving around 35 watts an hour. More information.

Fridges & Freezers

It's important to run these at the correct temperatures but you can save on the running costs, especially with freezers. Freezers actually run better full, so make up room with bread in slack times. Always useful to have a loaf available anyway. Try and ensure correct positioning. Make sure there is airflow behind the fridge or freezer to keep the machine working well and clean the fins off once a year as dust and fluff reduces efficiency. If you have a freezer, try and site it where it is not in direct sunlight and cool. This will mean it works less. Don't let it freeze around the machine though as this is counter productive.

Finally, consider a savaplug – these can save 20% on the running costs of a fridge or freezer by by adjusting the electricity supply according to the motor's needs. This means that they will also be kinder to the environment.

Cooking

If you are cooking on the hob, use a lid on your saucepan. This actually cooks better and faster as you do not get a cold layer at the top of the boiling water because the space fills with steam. Once the water has hit boiling point, you will be able to turn the ring down to minimum and will find it continues to boil effectively.

Use less water in the pan. This will give you better food, holding more vitamins and cost a few pennies less. Over a year, those pennies mount up.

Fill the oven. If you are using the oven for one thing, consider if there are other dishes you could cook at the same time. You get more out of the heat that way.

Microwaves are very efficient and if you have an electric cooker try and use the microwave as much as you can. You can even pre-cook in the microwave and then brown off in the oven or grill.

With a gas cooker, this is not as economical because gas is a primary fuel and you get efficiency of around 70% whereas electricity is a secondary fuel and so the efficiency on the fuel used to generate it is much lower.

Boiling the kettle? I drink around 10 cups of tea a day and so boil the kettle frequently. What I don't do is waste my money heating a lot of water each time that I am not going to use. Just put in what you need and it will boil quicker. Only pennies saved but it is actually better in terms of you get your tea faster!

If you replace yout existing kettle, consider an Eco Kettle

Washing

Modern washing machines are pretty efficient, heating just the water they need to the right temperature. Consider that most of the things you wash will hardly be dirty. Maybe you've worn a shirt for a day; it looks fine but it's not fresh. Well try a cool wash or even cold. You'll be surprised that you may not see any difference. While you are at it, try halving the amount of soap powder or even leaving it out altogether. I'm convinced he manufacturers overstate the amount required because they have to assume your clothes are filthy when you wash them.

Even more ecologically friendly would be to use EcoBalls that you buy as a kit. To use them, put all 3 EcoBalls® in the machine instead of washing powder. Each EcoBall contains mineral salts that produce ionized oxygen, penetrating deep into clothing, lifting dirt and grime away. They are reuseable for up to 1,000 washes (including the free refills), which is about the same as 50 boxes of washing powder. They cost on average 3p per wash (compared to 25-30p for normal washing powder), and so will save you quite a lot of money.

Vehicle Fuel Consumption

OK, walk more rather than drive, use a pedal bike, buy a smaller car. You probably think those are all good ideas but you won't do them. We recently replaced our ancient jalopy with a less ancient car that gives us around 70 miles per gallon and only costs £35.00 a year to tax. It's as responsive as you need in modern traffic and as fast as I care to go, not that I would admit to taking it up to the ton on the motorway to see if it would.

It's a Vauxhall Astra - not a special hybrid or anything - and runs like a dream.

Here are few things you can do without changing your car:

Avoid using air-conditioning or driving with the windows down if you can. This adds quite a lot to your gas mileage, as the Americans would say. In hot weather having the window down can be counter productive anyway because it allows more sun in than the window would.

Make sure your tyres are correctly inflated, this can save quite a bit on your fuel costs and wrongly inflated tyres are dangerous.

Plan your journey. I was a rep for some years and we used to plan our journeys in a logical route to save time, which in turn saved fuel. Don't drive round like a ping-pong ball, life is too short.

Conclusion

Be aware of what you do, make some small changes into a habit and you can save money as well as help the environment. What have you got to lose?

Resources

Nigel's Eco Store

Nigel’s Eco Store is a leading retailer of eco friendly household and lifestyle products.

Energy Saving Trust

We encourage energy efficiency and the integration of renewable energy sources into the economic fabric of our society. To achieve this we promote the use of cleaner fuels for transport and better insulation and heating efficiency for buildings and homes and champion small-scale renewable energy, such as solar and wind power.

Friends of the Earth

This organisation is at the forefront of the campaign against Climate Change

Centre for Alternative Technology

CAT aims to 'inspire, inform, and enable' people to live more sustainably. A solutions driven organisation, offering practical solutions to environmental problems, our key areas of work are renewable energy, environmental building, energy efficiency, organic growing and alternative sewage systems. We have been in existence for 27 years. CAT services include a visitor centre open 7 days a week, practical and informative publications, a mailorder service of 'green' books and products, educational services for schools, consultancy for individuals and businesses, residential courses, membership and a free information service

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