A First Utility guide to saving energy – room by room

We’ve compiled a list of some lesser-known ways to save energy around the home simply by making small changes.

Bedroom

• Towel dry your hair thoroughly to reduce the length of time you need to use a hair dryer
• Don’t leave your mobile phone on charge overnight – it only needs a couple of hours
• Set the heating to switch off a short while before going to bed and to come on just long enough for the house to feel warm when you wake up
• Use the right tog duvet (light in summer, heavy in winter) and opt for a hot water bottle instead of an electric blanket
• Keep the heat in your bedroom using draught excluders

Living room

• Replace traditional light bulbs with energy saving compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs, which use just one third of the energy used by traditional bulbs
• Don’t leave televisions, computers or other devices on standby. Households waste £227m a year by leaving appliances on standby, according to USwitch.
• Consider investing in an intelligent mains controller, which will turn all devices off at once
• Draw curtains at dusk to keep heat inside

Kitchen

• Don’t half fill the washing machine and only use appliances when necessary. Use a clothes horse or hang washing out on a line as often as possible
• Only boil as much water in the kettle as you need
• Consider investing in a slow cooker – it uses just a little more energy than a traditional light bulb and encourages you to plan your meals in advance
• When you can, opt to use the microwave instead of the oven. Alternatively, a halogen oven uses 75% less energy than a conventional electric oven and can roast a chicken in just 30 minutes.
• Turn off the hob or oven just before your food has finished cooking because the heat will be retained

Bathroom

• A running tap wastes more than 6 litres of water a minute and if its hot water then you’ll be wasting energy too. Don’t leave the tap running when you’re brushing your teeth or shaving
• Choose the shower instead of the bath. Better still, install a slow-flow shower head regulator to save water without making a difference to how the power feels to you.
• About 30% of all water used in the home every day is flushed down the toilet. Consider getting a water saving device fitted to the cistern of your toilet to use 50% less water with every flush

For more energy saving advice, be sure to check out the Utility Room blog and make sure you’re on our cheapest utility tariff for you.

About First Utility

First Utility is the UK’s fastest growing and largest independent energy supplier. Offering an alternative to the ‘Big Six’ providers it is committed to helping the UK reduce its energy bills by offering some of the cheapest gas and electricity tariffs, helping customers use less energy through the use of innovative technology and campaigning for industry change.

Disclaimer

The contents of this article are for reference purposes only and do not constitute financial or legal advice. Independent financial or legal advice should be sought in relation to any specific matter. Articles are published by us without any knowledge or notice of the circumstances in which you or anyone else may use or rely on articles or any copy of the information, guidance or documents obtained from articles. We operate and publish articles without undertaking or accepting any duty of care or responsibility for articles or their contents, services or facilities. You undertake to rely on them entirely at your own risk, and without recourse to us. No assurance of the quality of articles is given or undertaken (whether as to accuracy, completeness, fitness for any purpose, conformance to any description or sample, or otherwise), or as to the timeliness of the publication.

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Sally - Silversurfer's Editor

Mother of three grown-up daughters and a proud grandma too, I am the ultimate multi-tasker and am passionate about my role as Silversurfers Website Editor and Social Media Manager. Always on the lookout for all things that will interest and entertain our community. Fueling fun for the young at heart!

Latest posts by Sally - Silversurfer's Editor (see all)

• Freezing this Christmas, a charity single could hit the number one spot - December 20, 2024
• Theatre tickets from £10 for 50+ London shows with See It Live in 2025 - December 19, 2024
• Should Waspi women be entitled to compensation? - December 17, 2024
• What was your favourite childhood toy? - December 17, 2024
• It’s never too late to play bridge - December 15, 2024