Featured: 10 Ways to Save Energy

Whether you’re trying to save money or save the environment one step at a time, preserving energy is something that anyone can benefit from! With a few basic lifestyle changes, you can help the planet and save yourself a few quid! This week’s Ten Ways aims to give you a helping hand into starting to conserve energy within your own house!

1. Swap Heating for Socks and Wooly Jumpers

We all know how cold it can get during the winter and for many, the first thing we do is crank the heating up to maximum and bask in the summer-esque temperatures that the thermostat can provide. However, having your heating up all of the time can be a drain on energy and cost a fortune, so why not compromise? Keep your heating on a low setting and throw on an extra pair of socks or a hooded jumper. You still stay warm, with less of a cost!

2. Hang Your Washing Up

The feeling of clothes just out of a tumble-dryer can be absolutely heavenly, but have you any idea how much energy a tumble-dryer really uses? If you live in an area where sunshine frequents, a wonderfully simple change to make to your clothes-washing routine is to hang your clothes outside if you live in an area where you have frequent sunshine or dry weather, or invest in an indoor clothes horse to hang your clothes up if the weather isn’t as good. Your clothes still dry and you save energy. Easy-peasy!

3. Don’t Leave Your Phone on Charge Overnight

Most of us will own a mobile phone of some kind and by extension, need to charge it on a regular basis. Leaving your phone on charge isn’t recommended for three reasons. One, you waste a lot of energy as your phone will probably be charged in two or three hours and doesn’t need a full eight hours of electricity. Two, it can actually cause damage to the phone battery itself. Three, it’s one of the biggest causes of electrical fires in homes. So why not avoid the risk – put your phone on charge for a few hours during the day if you can and when it reaches 100%, unplug it!

4. Unplug Electronics When Not in Use

When not in use, electronics may not appear to use a lot of energy but even just powering the standby light on most games consoles can eat up energy like no one’s business! The best thing to do is to unplug electronic items when not in use – this goes for games consoles, beauty items, televisions and chargers alike.

5. Don’t Pre-Wash Dishes

The temptation to just leave the dishwasher to do all of the dirty work is a temptation that, as lazy as it may seem, is one that we should be giving in to! Pre-washing your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher is a waste of water as your dishwasher will almost always be able to get rid of the grime on dishes without a pre-wash!

6. Fill Up Your Freezer

If you leave empty spaces in your freezer, you also leave pockets of air. These air pockets are more difficult to chill and as a result, the coils in your freezer have to work harder to ensure that everything is kept at a constant temperature. To avoid this waste of energy – and yes, this is a genuine suggestion – all you have to do is buy and keep more food in your freezer. Alternatively, filling it with non-dense items such as crushed up paper, bottles of spirits (vodka doesn’t freeze so keeping it in a freezer ensures it is always nicely chilled!) or even old bottles filled with water.

7. Switch to Energy-Saving Bulbs

We all need light. Without it, there would be thousands in accident and emergency departments all over the country for clumsy injuries inflicted during the darker periods of the day. To save energy on this front without breaking any bones, switch the energy-saving bulbs! Not only do they save energy, but they have some pretty funky-looking designs on the market!

8. Only Boil What You Need

Another waste of energy is boiling a whole kettle of water for just one cup of tea or coffee. One of the easiest ways to save energy is to boil only what you need – if you’re only making one cup of tea, boil enough water for a single cup of tea. For some kettles, this can also reduce the time you have to wait for the kettle to boil. So two birds with one stone with this tip – less energy used and a faster caffeine hit!

9. Draught-Proof Your Room

Remember when you were younger and you’d see the crazy sausage-dog type draught excluders and think they were toys? Well, those come in super-handy! Placing a draught excluder at the bottom of your door can keep heat in and save you money by ensuring you don’t need to keep turning the heating up.

10. Turn the Light Off When You Leave a Room!

And finally, the most simple (and well-known!) tip; switch off lights when the room isn’t in use. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that leaving a light on in a room that is vacant is a waste of energy, so get into the habit of turning off lights if no one else is using the room.

Special thanks to silent hearts. and sheepcat; for editing!