MILLIONS of households could slash their bills by up to £1,666 by making some simple energy saving tweaks.
Leaving items on standby and using your appliances inefficiently could be adding hundreds to your bills.
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And while the Energy Price Guarantee means a typical family will not pay more than £2,500 a year on bills – many will pay more.
This is because the cap only limits the amount that firms can charge customers per unit of gas and electricity.
So if you use more energy than the average household – expect to pay more than £2,500 a year.
But households worrying about high energy bills can make some simple adjustments to help cut their bills by over £1,000 a year.
From adjusting your thermostat to lowering your boiler’s flow temperature and fitting insulation – we reveal the simple tricks that can help slash your energy bills.
Adjust your thermostat – save £380 a year
It is proven by the Energy Saving Trust that reducing the thermostat temperature by 1 degree can reduce your fuel bill by 10%.
Uswitch has previously explained that households could make potential savings of up to £127.70, by turning down the temperature of the thermostat just one degree.
If you were to turn your thermostat down by three degrees from 23°c to 20°c this winter you could save over £380 on your energy bills.
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Add loft insulation – save £300 a year
Loft insulation can save you up to £300 a year.
As heat rises in your home, it’s got to go somewhere, so if the top of your house isn’t properly insulated, you’ll lose all that precious heat right out of the roof.
If it’s a bigger project and you’ve more area to cover, you don’t necessarily have to splash out on the costs alone, as low-income households can make their homes more energy efficient with grants of up to £10,000 from councils.
The money can be put toward measures like cavity wall and loft insulation, underfloor heating, energy efficient doors or the replacement of single-glazed windows, so all the heat-escaping methods are covered.
Seal any draughts – save £200 a year
Setting up draught excluders around your home to block out any unwanted cool air is a cheap solution to slashing down your energy bills.
It means you could spend as little as £3, that could save you £200 on bills in the long run.
But remember, exactly how much you could save will depend on how draughty your house already is.
Keep your fridge freezer clean and frost-free – save £195 a year
The average fridge freezer uses 166 kWh of energy per year, working out at a cost of £77 a year, according to Uswitch.
While it isn’t realistic to turn off your fridge and freezer, there are things you can do to get them working more efficiently.
Keep your fridge freezer clean to save £45 a year – dust on the condenser coils can reduce the efficiency by as much as 25% says Which?.
Failing to defrost it for instance could be adding on an extra £150 a year.
The frost buildup increases the amount of work your freezer’s motor has to do.
Turn down your dishwasher temperature – save £146 a year
Your normal dishwasher setting is usually set at a temperature of between 55ºC and 65ºC.
An eco wash or energy saving setting generally uses around 20% to 40% less energy, according to Which?.
They generally run at 45ºC to 50ºC, which means it’s cheaper to run but still gets your dishes clean.
These settings usually use less water, but run longer than a standard wash.
According to Bosch, using eco-mode compared to the auto programme will save you around 523 kWh of energy over a year.
One kWh of electricity currently costs 28p – so that’s a saving of £146.44 over a year.
Adjust your boiler’s flow temperature – save £112 a year
Over 10.7million households can save an average of £112 a year by changing the temperatures on their combination boilers.
Households are being urged to check just how much they can save on their energy bills with a simple flick of a button.
But if households were to drop this temperature to 60°C they could slash their gas consumption by 9% – saving households over £100 a year.
Keep computers off standby – save £95 a year
Keeping your computer switched on or on standby could be wasting money.
Loop estimates that failing to turn your computer off could cost you an extra £95 a year.
Turning gadgets like this off at the mains when not in use can help fight these stealthy costs.
Insulate hot water pipes and tanks – save £80 a year
Insulating your water tank and covering any exposed pipes can save the typical home around £80 a year.
It means the sources of your heating and where hot water is stored will stay hot for longer and you won’t lose any heat that you may already be paying through the nose for.
For tanks, you can get a jacket of sorts for your hot water tank costing around £15 and is really straightforward to install – just make sure you follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
Check your radiators – save £75 a year
The average household can save up to £75 every year if they have thermostatic radiator valves fitted on all their radiators, according to British Gas.
If you’ve got a TRV attached to your radiators, you’ll be able to limit or turn off the flow of hot water into the radiator.
This can help reduce the amount of gas that your boiler needs to burn to heat up the water in your central heating system.
Valves can be picked up for less than £4 and they’re easy to replace yourself if some of yours are not working.
We’ve explained what the numbers on radiator knobs mean and how they should be set this winter.
Cut TV costs – save £24 a year
It can be easy to forget to switch off the telly in the evening.
And your TV is one of the most energy-hungry devices in the house when left on standby.
But it can mean that its eating up 19% of your total electricity bill.
Experts warn that leaving everyday items like this on – known as the “vampire” or “phantom” load – could be adding as much as £500 a year to your energy bills unnecessarily.
Making sure you turn it off could save you £24.61 a year.
Wash clothes cooler – save £24 a year
It is estimated that the typical UK household does 270 loads of washing a year. If each load takes an average of one hour, then this puts the annual cost of running your washing machine at £131.04.
But reducing your washing temperature to 30°C could save you £13 a year while cutting further to 20°C could shave £24 off your annual bill.
Most washing machine models now come with an eco-mode that can be used to save the environment – and some cash.
This setting will use less water and means you’ll use less energy to heat it when washing your clothes.
Cut Set-top-box costs – save £23 a year
Your Sky box could be pushing your bills up your bills if you choose to leave it on standby overnight.
And it’s estimated that households pay £23 a year alone to keep their box on standby, according to British Gas.
But beware that if you do turn off your device at the switch, it won’t record any shows while it’s turned off.
Keep games consoles off at the switch – save £12 a year
Your Xbox and Playstation use 130 and 120 watts respectively when they’re in use.
But these consoles still eat up 10 watts when they’re on standby.
It’s estimated that households can save an average of £12.17 per year by switching off their game consoles when not in use.
