RETIRED gran-of-three Melinda Gaunt had no idea that an energy guzzling appliance hidden away in her basement was driving her energy bill up by £550.
The 64-year-old, from Northwich, who lives with her husband David, 73, discovered her dehumidifier was costing them a small fortune to run each year.
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They started thinking about ways of cutting down their energy bill in May, as they were concerned about reports of costs soaring later in the year.
They read on a local community Facebook group page they are part of that dehumidifiers are among a list of energy guzzling appliances that could be driving up your bills.
They decided to use a smart plug – which measures how much energy individual appliances use – to see if theirs was costing them more than they thought.
They cost around £15 and act like a second plug – you slot it into your socket, and then plug your appliance into it.
They left it in over a week and couldn’t believe the results – it was costing them £1.50 every day.
“We were both quite shocked at how much it was costing us,” Melinda said.
“We have a basement room which seemed to be constantly smelling musty, so we bought a dehumidifier.
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“It’s been constantly running all the time for more than three years – but I just never thought of the cost of it.”
As they left it running round the clock, over the year she was spending £547.50.
Now, Melinda has switched it off and only runs it when she really needs to.
“We’re relieved at the savings we’re making – £550 is a lot of money.
“It never occurred to me to go down and switch it off – I didn’t think it would be that expensive.
“Check your appliances, because if you’re leaving something on all the time, or on standby, its still using a lot of money over the year – a few pence a day soon adds up.”
How else can you slash costs around the house?
Tumble dryers are one of the biggest energy guzzlers, costing around £1.27 per cycle, according to Uswitch.
Turn it off at the switch and use a clothes horse instead to dry your clothes for free.
Turning your thermostat down just one degree can save you £100, the Energy Saving Trust says.
While properly draught proofing your house can save £45 a year – you can use old socks and towels to put up against your door.
Checking your boiler settings could save you £95 a year – switch off the “comfort” mode and turn the flow temperature down.
Doing those simple tweaks has saved one reader £100 a year.
