How to Save Money on Your Energy Bills This Winter

As October is here, we are reminded of how quickly it’s approaching that time of the year again, Winter.

While we all try and save on our heating and electricity bills each year as the days get shorter and colder, this year circumstances maybe a little bit different. As many of us will be spending more time than usual - this is bound to have an effect on our heating and electricity bills, which is a real concern for some.

However, if you want to be able to keep your home warm and your bills low this winter, Fablious has got some great tips for you to help you do exactly that!

1. Insulate your home correctly

In your home there are many different ways for heat to escape if your home isn’t insulated correctly, causing you to spend more money than you need to keep it warm during the colder months.

If you’re already on a tight budget there’s no need to panic that you need to spend thousands of pounds insulating your home; instead, there are many cheaper ways to ensure your home isn’t letting most of your heat escape.

By purchasing things like draft excluders, thicker curtains, and even double glazing film for those single glazed windows you may have, you can insulate your home for less and still save money!

Alternatively, you can also see if you’re eligible for the UK Government’s Green Deal which will help you make improvements to your home - including insulating and help you to find the cheapest way to pay for them. You can use this energy efficiency calculator to see how much you could save on your energy bills from making a few improvements.

2. Make sure you’ve dressed appropriately

While no one should have to be wearing their winter coats indoors to stay warm, you should probably put a jumper over that T-shirt and turn the thermostat down slightly.

Insulating your body temperature is just as critical as insulating your home when it comes to saving on your energy bills. Remember that by turning your thermostat down by only 1 degree you could save yourself up to £75 a year all for the sake of putting on a thermal vest or a jumper!

3. Don’t leave your appliances on standby

Sometimes it’s easy to forget to switch your appliances off at the plug and just leave them on standby. However, while your devices may not be using the same amount of energy they are when they’re switched on, they’re still contributing to that hefty electricity bill you have.

In fact, the Energy Savings Trust has shown that households that leave appliances on standby could be wasting up to £80 a year from doing so. Therefore it pays to switch off your devices and save!

4. Make sure you’re on the cheapest tariff

Do you know that you’ve got the cheapest deal around? If you don’t, then you could benefit from comparing prices from energy providers to see whether you could be paying less each month.

However, while shopping for the cheapest tariff is worth it, we understand that many of us don’t have the time or the resources to compare prices, which is why there are also auto-switching services such as BillBuddy - who do the hard work for you.

With BillBuddy you could save up to £461* on your gas and electricity bills - ensuring that you’re never paying more than you should be. All you have to do is tell them who you pay and how much and they’ll let you know whether you’re getting the cheapest deal available or not. If there’s a cheaper tariff, with your permission, they’ll switch you over.

5. Use energy-saving light bulbs

Did you know that your lighting choices in your home could be contributing to higher electricity bills? By switching to energy-efficient light bulbs, you could save on your electricity bill as these bulbs typically use 75% less energy than traditional lightbulbs.

Not only could you save up to £100 on your electricity bills each year but energy-saving light bulbs typically last up to 50 times longer and are much more environmentally friendly. What’s not to love?

6. See whether you’re eligible for a discount scheme

Each year the UK government helps those households who need a little bit of extra help with their heating bills. If you’re of a certain age or receiving state benefits, you could be eligible for schemes such as:

• Winter Fuel Payment
• Cold Weather Payment
• Warm Home Discount

You can visit the Government’s website to see if you qualify for any of these discounts which could see you get a discount off of your heating bill this winter.

7. Buy energy-efficient appliances

If you’ve recently purchased a new television or a fridge then you might have seen a chart that looks something like this:

Anything lower down on the scale will be less energy efficient and will therefore cost you more on your energy bill. Buying more energy-efficient appliances, while more expensive initially will save you from having a huge electric bill.

8. Get an energy monitor or smart meter.

It can be hard to know how much energy you’re using in your house without continually checking the meter. Therefore it can be a good idea to have an energy monitoring system or a smart meter to keep an eye on how much energy you’re using as you’re using it.

You can purchase an energy monitor online, or you can talk to your energy provider about installing a smart meter if you don’t already have one.

9. Close your doors and windows

While this one may sound quite obvious, it’s easy to forget to close the door when you’re leaving a room, in a hurry or greeting someone at the front door or even letting some in some fresh air into a room. However, you could be allowing valuable heat to escape your rooms.

Instead, make sure you’re windows, and doors are always carefully closed in order not to let the heat out.