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10 Ways to Save Energy, Money & Help Prevent Climate ChangeThese top tips will not only help with the environment but will also save you not only money: 1. Put a jacket on your hot water tank - Fitting your hot water tank with an insulating jacket will only cost a few pounds and, with all the heat it traps, it pays for itself within six months. Fit one that's at least 75mm (3 inches) thick and you could save around £30 a year. If every UK household fitted an adequate tank-jacket tomorrow, it would save over £132 million of energy every year. 2. Insulate your loft - Around half the heat lost in a typical home escapes through the walls and the roof. Insulating your loft is simple to do and you can even install the insulation yourself. Even if you already have loft insulation, check its thickness. Adding another layer to bring it up to the recommended 270mm will save both energy and money being wasted. 3. Fill your wall cavities - Around a third of the heat lost in a house without insulation is through the walls. You could save up to £120 on your energy bills each year by insulating your wall cavities. Installation can take just a couple of hours for a typical three-bedroom house and can be done from the outside. If everyone in the UK filled their wall cavities, it would save around £670 million of energy a year. 4. Dodge the draughts - Eliminate draughts and wasted heat by installing a cheap, easy-to-fix brush or PVC seal on your exterior doors. Letterboxes and keyholes should be covered too. Draughts also get in through gaps in floorboards and skirting boards, which allow heat to escape in winter. Stop this waste by filling these gaps with beading or sealant. 5. Replace your light bulbs with energy saving ones - An energy efficient bulb produces less CO2 and can save up to £60 in electricity over its lifetime. Energy saving bulbs work in standard fittings and lamps, and are widely available at low prices (including in supermarkets). You can buy ones that look similar to old-style bulbs and give out the same coloured light, and some are even available for use with dimmer switches. 6. Don't leave it on standby - If everyone in the UK switched off unused appliances it would save £800 million a year. Leaving appliances plugged in and switched on at the socket means they’re still using energy - so turn TVs, games consoles and mobile phone chargers off at the mains to save yourself money. 7. Turn off the lights - £140 million a year is wasted through leaving lights on in unused rooms, so always turn off the lights when you leave a room. 8. Take control of your heating - You can avoid heating an empty house by using the timer so your central heating is switched off when nobody's home. If you have radiator valves, you can also turn off radiators in rooms that aren’t being used. And if you'd like to cut your heating bills by up to 10 per cent, just turn your central heating down by one degree. 9. Save water - Only boil as much water as you need (but remember to cover the elements if you're using an electric kettle) and turn off those taps - a dripping hot water tap wastes energy and in one week wastes enough hot water to fill half a bath, so fix leaking taps and make sure they're fully turned off! 10. Cool your water - If you have a programmer, set your heating and hot water to come on only when required rather than all the time. Is your water too hot? Your cylinder thermostat should be set at 60°C/140°F. Information provided by ACT ON CO2 which is a cross-government campaign launched to increase understanding of the effect of individual action on CO2 emissions and climate change. For more information, please go to: campaigns.direct.gov.uk/actonco2 |
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