What are you doing to lower your energy bills?

wild666

I turn everything off at the socket that's not in use it's saving me around 800 kWh of electric per year, around 67 kWh per month. No more leaving the TV, surround sound and games consoles and stereo in standby mode they are off at the socket if not used.
None of the appliances I have are the latest stuff even the fridge and freezer are items that I would find difficult to obtain spares for, the most up to date item in the home is the TV a 2020 model 65" TV that's G rated but is rarely used.

Benny2020

Just checked my leccy meter and used 47 kwh in the last 24 days.
Fridge and freezer both 20 years old and could be more efficient i guess, other than that its evening TV that uses the most for me.

aaiiee

I'm a recent convert to washing at 30 degrees. If your current washing powder/ liquid doesn't wash well at a low temperature - try a different powder/ liquid.

northwalesd

Well today I've already stopped my OH putting some of the washing in the drier (he was going on about bits from the trees at the back going inside the duvet cover and fitted sheet - to be fair we've got lots of detritus coming off the trees, I said I'd give everything a good shake once it's dried on the line). Also I've stopped him putting on a 3/4 full dishwasher, putting it off until after Sunday lunch has generated a few more dishes to fill it up. I am fighting a constant battle.

Swipe

I'm still on a cheap 2 year fix for another 12 months so I'm not on a clamping on down on usage just yet as I'm being subsidised by EDF

Mstty

I am sure I had read you had already turned some storage heaters off early in April or even all and running a small electric heater only when needed and running 16oC as your base heat?

That's already more that most did early April @Swipe

I can't see you going lower when your fix is up😳

Mstty

Energy saving so far

1) not using the Projector until film night

2) using the iPad pro for general TV watching

3) devices switched off at the plug not left on standby

4) we have a kettle that has a minimum of 250ml so can boil exactly what is required and no more

5) when the oven is used we max it our cooking on all runs and batch cook

6) using the microwave more

7) washing machine on 3 times less a week

8) tumble dryer on 3 times less a week

9) washing machine set to 30oC
10) no heating on whatsoever since 10th April

11) water heating set to 45 mins a day

12) dishwasher on 2 less times a week wait til it's full

All of the above was easy and just adjustments to our lives thinking a little more about energy use.

It's early days but using around 10kWh electricity a day (we only have electricity) the aim is to get down to 8kWh a day ideally.

Froglet

peter_the_piper said:

Froglet said:

Baked potatoes I pierce with a long implement such as a knitting needle right through from one side to the other in four places,then cook for up to 5 minutes in the microwave,depending on size,before baking in the oven.This cuts the time down by at least half.

Why not try baking them in the air fryer, we do and they taste/look much better than microwave and cheaper than turning on the oven. Wipe skins with oil, delish.

Thanks for that,I shall give it a go.The air fryer is a great alternative in lots of ways.

Swipe

Mstty said:

I am sure I had read you had already turned some storage heaters off early in April or even all and running a small electric heater only when needed and running 16oC as your base heat?

That's already more that most did early April @Swipe

I can't see you going lower when your fix is up😳

Yes, that's right. No way I'd leave a storage heater on because if the sun comes out after April I'd be sweltering. Once I'm off my fix, the storage heaters will be barely on or it'll be costing me well over £4000 a year for my normal usage.

Effician

I've found by setting weekly kWh targets it's helped to focus more on the amount of electricity wasted whilst still maintaining a comfort level we're happy with, We're all electric with a log burner.

Having dropped down to around 35kWh/ week  last October it soon became easy to hit that mark, from Jan 22 we aimed for 28kWh/ week & having implemented a few other energy saving methods  we we're soon well below that . We're now down to 21kWh/ week  & while managing to hit that target for the last 6 weeks that's as far as we want to go & averaging about 20kWh/ week.

Life is still comfortable , regular hot meals & showers, Tv & laptop on way too much, chest freezer & fridge doing what thet do, lawnmower & hedge trimmers used weekly etc.

The biggies for us we're too much wasted hot water, lazy in our cooking methods , not making use of the energy saving functions on  Tv's etc & vampire devices.

I would say it's been fairly easy to achieve this even being at home most of the time & Mrs E  would have put her foot down if it was getting restrictive.

We haven't reduced out of neccesity rather out of wanting to , for us it's also a cheaper & more enviromentally friendly option than going with solar panels .