With the energy prices at a historic high, many of us are struggling to meet ends while keeping warm thru the cold winter.
Having fallen victim of an unexpectedly excruciatingly high bill myself (I admit I grew a few white hair), I had no other option but to take the matter in my own hands and act pronto!
This article may not bring relief to everyone, as I do understand and appreciate the very difficult situation and drastic choices that many are faced with this winter, but I just hope that this read will offer you some useful tips that may help you saving money on your energy bill as it did for me.
I recently received a gas and electricity bill for December for the amount of £256.22. To make it clear, I live by myself in a three-bedroom house and I can promise you it was not tropical-like. The shocking bill made me realize I needed to change my habits and more and I was committed to turn this into something positive. Interestingly, after searching the web right and left, getting tips form my gas engineer and talking to friends and neighbours, I ended up finding this highly educational and even encouraging.
The good news: the price can be brought down and without having to wear hat and gloves while warming up your hands on a hot meal.
The first thing that came to mind is: why don’t they teach these things at school? I swear there’s some practical things, like this one, that would help us all! But fear not: I have tested them myself and having managed to reduce my bill, I am here to share my tips!
WHAT WE ALL KNOW…
There are some things we all know. For example: we know that double or triple glazing / keeping doors closed / taking shorter showers / replacing light summer curtains with thicker ones in winter /switching to LED lights and turning them off when not used are all things that help. But what if you have to make do with what you’ve got because you are renting or because you live in an open plan house with open plan staircase too (beautiful, but I know how hard is to warm it up!).
Well, there’s still plenty little things that can be done!
MINDSET and CLIMATE CHANGE
Firstly, take a moment to address the way you look at it. It may seem silly but remind yourself that it’s winter and that, although it would be lovely to hang around in a t-shirt, it is winter after all! I am not suggesting you accept the cold, I am suggesting embracing winter: wear nice warm jumpers, dig out thermal underwear (there’s a reason why our parents and grandparents used to have them!) and make it snugly and cozy. I have 2 cats and they are no longer young and at this age they need warm snugly places or they can get sick. With the intention of turning down the heating and reducing the hours it’s on, I felt bad seeing them looking cold and (I swear) miserable! Although I can put on an extra layer, they can’t. So, I went and bought 2 of the snuggliest cat baskets I could find. Make no mistake: don’t fall victim of false economy. If you decide to do something in this line of thinking, do a quick calculation to ensure this still makes financial sense. In my case, cats are now snugly and happy, I’m happy, and I can be a bit more cautious with the central heating without feeling guilty. The idea to take home: put some snuggly layers on!
Secondly, remind yourself you are not alone. At first, I felt stupid and even embarrassed to admit having received such a huge bill and having to make changes. That was until I spoke to others who were resolving to hot water bottles, tight heating regimes not to mention the ones who were thinking of moving to smaller places.
Thirdly, remind yourself that climate change is not an opinion and needs your help! So, it’s nice to know we are all doing our part.
MONEY SAVING TIPS
Ok, now we are in the right mindset, here’s some simple changes you can do.
- Reduce the temperature of water and heating on your boiler
It may seem a small thing but one thing that makes the difference is to reduce the temperature of the water and heating on your boiler, not just your thermostat. This was something I have never done: I simply don’t toy with the boiler! The boiler man comes around once a year to do the annual check-up and I never touch it. Well, it turns out that turning down the temperature not only can save you bucks but can also help your boiler work more efficiently. Try googling your boiler model number and type to see what the best setting is. I found a YouTube video by a boiler engineer who explained how to do this step by step. The result: I noticed no difference at all in terms of warmth but I did indeed notice a massive difference in the bill! Ensuring your boiler is at the correct settings could really save you money!
- Reduce the temperature of your thermostat
Although it’s tempting to put the heating at a Mediterranean 20 to 21 degrees, the truth is that most houses are not insulated enough to ever reach that temperature. You heard me right! Ever felt like you placed the heating at 21 degrees yet it felt not much different from 19 or 20 degrees? Most flats or houses are not able to retain that heat as it’s not just windows and door that leak heat, but walls too. However, your boiler is still working very very hard to try reach that temperature. So, don’t fool yourself and be smart instead: generally speaking the best temperature is around 17 – 17.5 degrees during the day and 18 to 19 degrees at night (albeit elderly people may need a degree or two higher to feel comfortable). For someone like me who liked a tropical 21 degrees, I thought going down to 19 would be the death of me, but not at all! In fact, after having tested 17 degrees during the day and 18 degrees at night, I felt that was not such a huge difference. Despite minus temperatures, I did not go above 18 degrees and me and cats are still rather snuggly. Amazing discovery!
- Rethink heating times
The same as it takes approximately 1 hour to warm up a property, it also takes approximately an hour to lose the heat. I used to turn the heating off when I went to bed but I learnt that even switching it off a couple of hours before I go to bed changes very little in the grand scheme. It was my neighbor who told me she switches it off at 9.30 pm as her and her family tend to go to bed around 10 or 10.30. She simply suggested “why not try it?”, and so I did! Although I now switch the heating off at 10 pm even though I still go to bed at 11 pm or even midnight, I don’t really notice the difference. Plus, like I said earlier, it’s winter: embrace it! Pull out a lovely blanket, snuggle up on the sofa, make yourself a hot cuppa. It’s actually rather soothing!
If you spend most of your time at home, be it because you have small children, are a home carer or because you work from home, deciding on how many hours to have the heating on can be a little tricky. If you work in an office you can let your boss or company pick up the bill…but if you are at home…it’s on you. The other thing against you is that sitting in front of a computer will result in feeling colder than if you were moving around. So, what to do? I discussed this with a friend who lives in Switzerland. We checked the advice given by our respective governments and found them highly different. In Switzerland you are advised to keep the heating on all the time during the cold months, even if at low temperatures, as the house will retain the heat and your boiler with work less hard. In the UK you are advised to keep it on only when needed because the houses are…well…simply put…less efficient! Having visited my friend there, I can only but agree. So, back to…”what to do?”. Well, I used to wake up in the morning an put the heating on until I went to bed. Not now anymore! Now I have it on 1 hour in the morning as I get up to take the worst of the chill out and then I put t back on at 4 pm until 10 pm. Tropical days are long gone, and I admit sometimes during the day I think to myself “brrrrr” but nothing that can’t be fixed with a hot cuppa or putting an extra layer on. You may think I wear 3 jumper, a blanket and watch my breath exhale when I talk, but the truth is, again, that it’s really not so! And my house is not even fully double glazed and I live in England, not the Bahamas! My advise here is, try/experiment. I think you’ll find that with the right mindset and the right attire, you will be way-way more fine that you initially thought!
- Check your boiler & radiator system are in good order
There are also other more technical things you can do which are looking at replacing your boiler if it’s getting too old and not working efficiently anymore. Also, consider cleaning your radiator systems if you notice they are clogged up and not working efficiently anymore.
Here’s some websites that I found rather useful if not even to answer most F.A.Q. such as:
- Should I get a smart meters or not?
- Which are best, gas or electric heaters?
- Should I set the thermostat or the individual radiators?
- How best set the thermostatic radiators
- How to zone your heating.
Click here for Energy Saving Myths & Tips to reduce your heating bills
CONCLUSION
Whatever your situation, there’s tons of things you can do: from lowering your boiler levels to lowering your thermostat levels, from reducing the hours the heating is on to enjoying putting on an extra layer.
Whatever you do it’s important to feel like you are not alone in this, we are all having to change gear and make some habitual changes, and it’s important to remind yourself that turning your heating down a bit, although it may seem horrendous, it’s actually helping the planet. But whatever you do, don’t make drastic changes. Start with mindset, keep positive and don’t make drastic changes that will be hard to stick too. Instead research your specific housing situation and by tweaking a few things I am sure you will see results!
And most importantly: the aim is not to save money on your bills while being miserable, cold and in danger of making yourself mentally sick. The aim is to make small changes that in turn will give good and sustainable results.
Do you have any tips you think could help others? Why not share them here?
