SAVING ENERGY AT HOME
TOP 5 TIPS
- Switch your appliances off standby or use a time switch
- Turn off lights when you’re not in the room
- Cut down your shower time
- Insulate your home. Some places to look out for are walls, floors, roof and loft space
- Draught proof your home, especially windows, doors, chimney, floorboards and skirting boards, loft hatches, pipework, old extractor fans and cracks in walls

SWITCHING OFF STANDBY
Most electrical appliances can be turned off at the plug without disturbing their programming and you can save £45 to £55 annually just by turning your appliances off standby mode.

TURNING OFF LIGHTS
Turning off your lights when you’re not using them or when you leave a room will save you around £7 to £9 on your annual energy bills. Replacing all the lights in your home with LED bulbs will help you save even more.

USING TIME SWITCHES
When appliances only need to be on for a short period of time, use a time switch instead of keeping it on unnecessarily. This will save you all the money you would have spent on keeping the appliance running for a long time.

CUTTING DOWN YOUR SHOWER TIME
Keeping your shower time to just 4 minutes could save a typical household £60 to £65 a year on their energy bills.

SWAPPING YOUR BATH FOR A SHOWER
You might enjoy a long soak in the bath. But swapping just one bath a week with a 4-minute shower could save you around £10 a year on your energy bills.
CAREFUL WITH YOUR APPLIANCES

KETTLES
Don’t boil the kettle with more water than you actually need, you’ll save yourself £10 to £12 a year on your electricity bill.

TAPS
Fit an aerator onto your existing kitchen tap, this reduces the amount of water coming out without affecting how it washes or rinses. An aerator is a small gadget with tiny holes, it’s cheap and easy to install and could save you £19 to £20 a year.

DISHWASHERS
Only run your dishwasher when it’s to full reduce the amount of water you use. Reducing your dishwasher use by one run per week for a year could save you between £12 and £15.

WASHING MACHINES
Using your washing machine on a 30-degree cycle instead of higher temperatures and reducing its use by one run per week will save you £24 to £30 on your energy bill. Additionally, only run the washing machine when it’s full, to get even more savings.

TUMBLE DRYERS
Avoid using a tumble dryer for your clothes. Drying clothes on racks inside where possible or outside in warmer weather can save you £50 to £60 a year.
INSULATING YOUR HOME

WALLS
Filling cavity walls is not a job you can do yourself, but a professional installer can do the job quickly and cleanly for an average house with easily accessible walls.
Solid walls can be insulated either from the inside or the outside. This will cost more than insulating a cavity wall, but the savings on your heating bills will be bigger too.

FLOORS
Insulating the floor is a great way to keep your property warm. Generally, you only need to insulate the ground floor, but you should also consider insulating any floors that are above unheated spaces such as garages. Insulating under the floorboards on the ground floor could save you about £70 to £80 in an average property.

ROOF AND LOFT SPACE
If your loft is easy to access and has no damp or condensation problems, it should be easy to insulate – and in many cases, it is possible to do it yourself.
There are several things to consider when insulating a loft space:
Storage- If you plan to use the loft space for storage, you will want to lay boards over the joists. Unfortunately, if you only insulate between the joists before doing this, the insulation won’t be thick enough. To get enough insulation, you can raise the level of the floor so you can fit enough mineral wool beneath the new floor level.
Damp- Insulation stops heat escaping from living spaces, so it will make your loft space cooler, which could introduce or worsen existing damp or condensation problems. If you are installing loft insulation yourself, please keep in mind that you may need to increase ventilation.
Living space- If you want to use your loft as a living space, or it is already being used as a living space, then you need to make sure that all the walls and ceilings between a heated room and an unheated space are insulated. As with warm loft insulation, this is not a DIY job. You will need a professional installer to ensure that the insulation is appropriate and complete, and that adequate ventilation is provided where needed.
Ventilation- Air needs to flow in and out of your house so it stays fresh, dry and healthy. A good installer will be sure not to block or seal any intentional ventilation. If you’re doing any DIY insulation, be careful that you’re not covering any vents, grilles or airbricks.
Inaccessible loft space- If your loft is hard to access, you can have blown insulation installed by a professional, who will use specialist equipment to blow appropriate insulation material into any awkward space. They may use mineral wool fibre, treated cellulose or polyurethane foam.
DRAUGHT PROOFING YOUR HOME
Professional draught proofing of windows and doors, blocking cracks in floors and skirting boards can save between £80 and £95 on annual energy bills. Getting professional help can cost around £250, but DIY draught proofing can be much cheaper.

WINDOWS
For windows that open, buy draught proofing strips to stick around the window frame and fill the gap between the window and the frame. For sliding sash windows, foam strips do not work well. It’s best to fit brush strips or consult a professional. For windows that don’t open, use a silicone sealant.

DOORS
Draught proofing external doors can stop a lot of heat from escaping and won’t cost you much. The four main areas to consider draught proofing are: the keyhole (buy a purpose- made cover that drops a metal disc over the keyhole), the letterbox (use a letterbox flap or brush but remember to measure your letterbox before you buy the cover), the gap at the bottom (use a brush or hinged flap draught excluder), gaps around the edges (fit foam, brush or wiper strips like those used for windows).
Internal doors only need draught proofing if they lead to a room that you don’t normally heat, such as a spare room or kitchen. Keep those doors closed to stop the cold air from moving into the rest of the house. If there is a gap at the bottom of the door, block it with a draught excluder – you can make one stuffed with used plastic bags or bits of spare material. Internal doors between two heated rooms don’t need draught proofing, as you don’t lose energy when warm air circulates.

CHIMNEY
If you don’t use your fireplace, your chimney is probably a source of unnecessary draughts. There are two main ways to draught-proof a chimney. The first is to fit a cap over the chimney pot (this may be better done by a professional) and the second is to buy a chimney draught excluder- these help to stop draughts and heat loss through the chimney and are usually fitted inside the chimney or around the fireplace. Don’t forget to remove the draught proofing if you decide to light a fire.

FLOORBOARDS AND SKIRTING BOARDS
You can block cracks in your floor by squirting filler into the gaps. Floorboards and skirting boards often contract, expand or move slightly with everyday use, so you should use a filler that can tolerate movement – these are usually silicone-based. Look for flexible fillers, decorator’s caulk or mastic type products. Fillers come in different colours, and for indoor and outdoor use. They block gaps permanently so be careful when you apply them – wipe off any excess with a damp cloth before it dries. Fillers may break down over time, but they can easily be reapplied. Check whether you also need to insulate between the skirting board and the floor.

LOFT HATCHES
Hot air rises and gets lost in the cold space in your loft or attic, so it’s worth blocking off draughts around your loft hatch. Use strip insulation, like on a door.

PIPEWORK
You can fill small gaps around pipework with silicone fillers, similar to the fillers used for skirting boards and floorboards. Fill larger gaps with expanding polyurethane foam. This is sprayed into the gap, expands as it dries, and sets hard.

OLD EXTRACTOR FANS
Old fan outlets may need to be filled with bricks or concrete blocks and sealed from both the inside and outside.

CRACKS IN WALLS
You can fill cracks using cement or hard-setting fillers. These will work around electrical fittings on walls and ceilings and at ceiling-to-wall joists. If there is a large crack in your wall, you may need to check if there’s an underlying problem. Consider consulting a surveyor or builder to see what caused the crack in the first place.