With the current cost of living crisis in the UK. We thought we would take the time to come up with 5 great ways to help reduce your bills over the winter. In this post, we will cover some free and some that require a bit of an investment. Each technique will help reduce your bills during this cost of living crisis.
1. Therma-Foil Insulation
According to a study done by Sheffield University, around 15% is lost through the floor. By placing foil insulation under all of your floors you will be able to drastically reduce this.
Not only can you place Therma-Foil under the floor, but You can also place it in attacks/lofts, further reducing the loss of heat. As the heat rises it will reflect off the Therma-Foil back into your property keeping it hotter for longer in turn you will be able to turn your heating down or off after less time.
2. Turn appliances off
This should already be done, but now more than ever. TURN APPLIANCES OFF. If you don’t use it turn it off its even better if you do so at the plug. Keeping appliances on standby is costing you money. Therefore if you ensure to turn appliances off you will save. 1 tv on standby can cost £11 per year (we know that’s not a lot). However, you have lots of appliances that will add up. A few TVs, washers, dryers, kettles, phone chargers, computers, etc. All appliances will add up and could cost you upwards of £100 a year.
You also need to not turn on your lights unnecessarily, leaving your lights on could be costing you an average of 34p per hour per light. This really will add up, especially if you have multiple bulbs on at once. You also don’t need lights on during the day. It may feel a little bit darker, but this will also reduce your costs, and for what, a bit of darkness while making a drink or getting changed.
3. Shower at the gym
Shower at the gym ( only if you already have a membership). Most gyms have a shower block, so take a towel and some shower products.
Based on the October price cap, the cost of an average shower goes up to 60p and 91p. Yearly, and based on one shower a day, that works out as up to an average of £332.15 on the October price cap. Whereas if you go to the gym 3 times a week and shower there, your average shower bill will decrease drastically saving you well over £100 per year. These are all estimates as temperature and duration do affect these numbers. Source
4. Add a layer before you turn on the heating
We all know how easy it is to flick on the heating when we feel a bit chilly. How about instead of going straight to the heating try putting on a jumper or wrapping up in a blanket first? I’m not saying to never put the heating on. If you are still cold put it on, but with an extra layer, you may be more comfortable setting it to a lower temperature. You may also decide you don’t need it on for a while. As 1 hr of heating costs about £1 and if you can put it off for 2 hours for a few months over winter, that could be a saving of up to £300 on average between October and March.