Full list of energy gadgets that could SAVE you money on bills

ENERGY bills have rocketed in price with most households struggling to keep up – but you can equip your home with gadgets to help cut costs.

The recent energy price cap rise means millions of people are now expected to fork out more for their gas and electricity bills.

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The change means typical energy bills could hit almost £2,000 a year.

And it’s likely to go up even more by Autumn, which means bill payers are going to continue to feel the pinch on their wallets throughout the year.

The cap is in place to stop providers overcharging customers as wholesale prices are passed down.

But it hasn’t meant that households have been able to avoid extortionate new costs – and they now have to come up with ways to cut down usage to avoid forking out as much.

You can invest in a few nifty gadgets around your home that will do the work for you, and stop you wasting so much energy every day.

Sarah Broomfield, energy expert at Uswitch told The Sun: “There are many inexpensive gadgets that can cut your energy bills in a short space of time.

“For example, a water-efficient shower head takes less than a year to pay for itself — and has the added benefit of saving water, which is especially useful for anyone on a water meter.” 

Here’s at least 11 of those gadgets that you can get your hands on to start slashing the cost of your energy bills:

LED bulbs

Keeping the lights on at home adds up to about 10-20% of your electricity bill.

But upgrading your old bulbs to LED – the more energy efficient option could help reduce your bill.

And the cost of LED bulbs has plummeted in recent years to as little as £2 or £3 each, so you won’t have to fork out all that much upfront to install the energy saving measure.

Uswitch says you could save roughly £6 a year per bulb if you swap them to the alternatives.

It might not sound much, but with an average of 12 bulbs in every home, that’s £72 a year.

Tumble drier egg 

A typical tumble dryer uses 4.5kWh per cycle.

Under the new price cap the average cost for electricity is 28p per kWh, adding up to £1.26 per tumble dryer cycle.

If you use the dryer once a day, that’s a whopping £459.90 on your energy bill.

But to help your clothes dry faster you can use nifty gadgets like dryer balls – they can cost from £5 at any high street store.

It helps move your laundry around the drum allowing it to dry quicker, and it could slash as much as a quarter off your drying time – and you could save up to £115 a year on your bills.

That of course varies on how much you use your tumble dryer – it would be a smaller saving if you don’t use it every day.

If you want to cut costs all together, avoid the tumble dryer and hang up your clothes to dry outside – this is a bit more achievable now that summer is on the way.

Heated clothes airers can be cheaper to run than tumble dryers too.

Radiator reflectors

Putting radiator reflectors – or tin foil if you’re on a tight budget – behind your radiator could save on your energy bills every time you whack the heating on.

It works by reflecting the hot air coming from the back of your radiator back into the room, instead of your radiator blowing hot air at the wall.

This means that you won’t that it won’t be wasting energy – and adding money onto your bill.

British Gas says the trick could save you £20 a year.

To buy, the reflective radiator sheets cost £19 from Wickes.

But if you can’t stretch to the real deal, a budget option is a roll of tin foil at only 65p from the likes of Aldi or Tesco – and it could work just as effectively.

Smart power strip

Using a smart power strip could save from appliances “sucking up” waste power.

It might have an automatic switch off for when you’re not home and using any of your plugged in gadgets.

Or when you charge your phone while you sleep.

Most phones can be fully charged within two hours, so you could be plugged in for an extra six hours all the time that you’re asleep, adding £1 a year to your bills per gadget.

A smart power strip would know when to switch off and stop these vampire electronics guzzling too much waste power.

Uswitch says the gadget could help save £30 a year on your energy bills too.

Energy-saving kettle

As a nation of tea-drinkers, households are likely spending more than they need to keep their kettles boiling.

An easy way to cut down costs is to invest in an energy-saving kettle.

These can allow you to boil just one cup at a time.

If you over fill your kettle and boil too much you could be adding to your energy bill, and wasting yourself a lot of time waiting for your cuppa.

Tashema Jackson, consumer champion at energyhelpline previously told The Sun: “Adjusting how much water you use and the temperature you boil your water to, can save you around £6 a year.”

Hot water cylinder jacket

A hot water cylinder jacket costs about £15, and you can fit one yourself at home without having to be too much of a dab hand at DIY.

It means your water tank will be insulated so no heat can escape.

Your water will be hotter for longer so you won’t need to spend as much time with the heating on.

And you could save £35 a year according to the Energy Saving Trust.

It’s usually as simple as choosing the correct size from a DIY store and then slipping it on.

Eco-shower head 

A more water efficient shower head will reduce your heating bills because you won’t waste as much water.

These shower heads restrict the flow of water so you can cut down on consumption.

It means your boiler doesn’t have to work as hard reheating all the water you’ve lost down the drain with a regular head.

You may have to fork out around £10 to buy one for your bathroom, but you can usually fit it yourself.

Pure Showers says you could save around £55 a year on energy bills by just switching to a more efficient eco-shower head.

Robo-radiator valve 

A thermostatic radiator valve will allow you to control the temperature of your individual radiators, so you can turn down the heat in rooms you are not using.

That means you’ll avoid wasted heat when you’re not even there to enjoy it – and you could save as much as £75 a year according to the Energy Saving Trust.

Setting them to a lower setting uses less energy and so will save you money too.

You can usually access the smart heating controls, if you have them, remotely too, making it easier to control your usage.

Then play around with timing controls so the heating will come on automatically and you don’t have to worry about when and if you remembered to turn it off again.

Air fryer

An air fryer is the perfect nifty gadget to add to your kitchen counter if you’re looking for a cheaper alternative for dinner.

Sarah Broomfield, energy expert at Uswitch said: “While it could cost around 12p to cook chicken in an oven, it would cost about half that in an air fryer.” 

Under the new price cap a kWh, which is 1000 watts, of energy costs 28p, but the short time you’ll need the air fryer on means it won’t be quite so costly to run.

The experts at Uswitch told The Sun that if you used a 900-watt air fryer for 20 minutes a day, it would cost about 6p per meal.

If you used it five days a week for a year, that would cost a total of £15.60.

And that means you’d save around £16 too compared to using your oven for the same amount of time, as it costs twice as much to run.

If you don’t already have an air fryer, you could try heating up your dinner in the microwave to save money – or try a slow cooker meal for tea if you want to lower costs.

Smart thermostat 

A smart thermostat could help you reduce your bills by expertly controlling your heating system.

You could save as much as £164 a year on bills with a smart thermostat.

But the high-tech gadget can come with a high price tag too – you may need to get an electrician to professionally fit it at a cost of around £100.

The bit of kit works by connecting your heating system to the internet.

It allows you to turn the dial for your heating throughout your home, up or down from your smart phone – whether you’re in or out of the house as well.

That way you can switch it off when you don’t need it, and avoid waste.

Smart Meter

A smart meter itself won’t save you money, but having one installed can offer insight into how to lower your bills.

You can use the meter to monitor exactly what’s draining energy in your home and see how much you’re using and at what time of the day, week, month or year.

It could highlight ways you can be more energy efficient – like which electronics you might need to unplug or which rooms don’t need heating for so long.

Can I get help with my energy bills?

The tricks might help you slash costs, but you can also get help to cover what’s still left to pay.

A £200 energy rebate is planned for later in the year to households with lower energy costs in the short term.

The discount will need to be repaid in £40 annual instalments though, starting from April next year for five years.

There’s also a council tax rebate on the way worth £150.

It won’t strictly bring your energy bills down, but the £150 is designed to help households battle the cost of living.

You’ve got to be in council tax bands A to D to get the cash – which amounts to around 80% of homes.

But there’s also things like the £300 winter fuel payment which helps cover pensioners’ energy costs during the harshest months.

And many will be able to claim through the recently upgraded Household Support Fund, where councils give out free cash and vouchers to hard-up families struggling to pay their bills.

Your energy provider might be able to help with a hardship grant too.

British Gas has just announced further funding for its version of the help, offering £2million more to those who are struggling.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk