MARTIN Lewis has issued a warning over a home appliance that’s the biggest energy user – and more tips you can use to reduce the cost of your energy bills.
Speaking on ITV last night, the man behind MoneySavingExpert gave his top tips on on saving cash this winter.
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Martin explained that “focusing on energy efficiency” was the best way to “get your house in order” and save money.
And he warned about one home appliance that could be pushing up bills as “it’s the biggest energy user”.
He said “£1 pound a load typically [that will cost]. So really expensive to run.”
The money saving expert suggested minimising your use, maximising your load and putting it on for less time.
He also suggested getting a dehumidifier as it uses a lot less wattage.
A dehumidifier can help dry clothes by absorbing moisture in the air, though it will be slower as it’s combined with air drying.
But if you don’t have one already, of course you’ll have to cover the cost of buying one first.
You can pick one up for as little as £45 but they can run into hundreds of pounds, depending on the type you buy.
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You’ll still have the cost of running the device too, but it could work out as less than a tumble dryer.
According to Which? a dehumidifier costs around £30 a year to run, if you use it for one hour a day.
USwitch estimates that for big families who do three loads of washing a week, running a tumble dryer will cost £104.52 a year.
The exact cost of running either of these devices will depend on the model and how often you use them.
Martin also gave more tips for saving cash on energy bills.
Shower head
The money saving expert says you should consider fitting a free water savings shower head.
This theoretically means less water and heat is used, meaning that usage is down and cash is saved.
One degree challenge
Martin says to take his one degree challenge at home and try reducing temperature from 21 to 20C.
This could save up to 10 per cent on your heating bill, with 18C fine for healthy adults, according to the World Health Organisation.
Trying to reduce even one degree will save on your heating bill so don’t turn your thermostat up when you are cold.
Tactical Curtains
Martin says to use tactical and fleece lined curtains.
He says that when the sun is shining it’s letting light and heat into the house and when it’s dark it’s not.
He advises to keep the heat in and close the curtains and do this regularly.
Boiler challenge
The Moneysavingboilerchallenge.com is of key interest to the expert.
Martin advises how to turn down the flow rate on combi boilers which most people own.
He said you should want the temperature to be around 60C but most peoples have set it higher – this is inefficient and wastes heat.
Remember, turning it down doesn’t affect the heat of house and water temperature.
Fridge check
According to Martin, you should check your fridge for its temperature regularly.
Martin advises a fridge to be -5C while a freezer should be -18C.
If it’s colder you are wasting more than is needed.
Bath water
Martin says to save money you should not cool down the hot water in your bath because it’s too hot.
Instead, he says you should wait for it to cool naturally instead of wasting heating the water by diluting it straightaway.
Hot water jacket
The expert says a hot water cylinder jacket on your boiler helps save money by reducing heat loss – this is a sure-fire way to cut costs.
Central heating
Martin says don’t be afraid to check your central heating regularly.
Turning on central heating on even in rooms we don’t use is a bad habit among many of us – make sure it’s off.
You only want radiators on in the rooms you’re using and it’s an easy hack that we don’t all use
Reflective radiators
The finance guru says that putting reflective panels on radiators can cut down on heat loss and save money.
Cut down TV usage
TV’s are used for four hours a day on average according to the expert.
Martin advises to put your TV on a low energy setting to save money.
Draught detective
The money saving guru says to find draughts and block them.
Draughts can cause consistent heat loss throughout your house if they are not sorted out.
You can also place clingfilm on windows when its get really cold.
It comes as Martin how some households may be able to slash direct debits on energy bills this winter.
The personal finance guru told viewers that they have a right to have their energy direct debit reduced if they think they’re too high.
He advised struggling bill payers to take regular meter readings and use an online direct debit calculator to estimate what they should be paying based on usage.
Martin said that the average direct debit should be double what they were last year – so if it much higher than that Lewis urged viewers to “politely” call their energy companies to query it.
He added that if the company cannot justify the rise, they are bound by its license to reduce it.
However, be careful not to end up in debt to your supplier by lowering your energy bill by more than is necessary.
Under the Government’s Energy Price Guarantee, the average household will pay no more than £2,500 a year on their energy bills.
However, as Martin reminded viewers, this is not a cap on total cost but on unit prices – so if you use more energy, expect to pay more.
