Reduce your cost of living with these energy saving tips

Reducing your energy use has more than one benefit as you will not only save money on your energy bills but also reduce your carbon footprint. Reducing our bills now will help everyone out later as we save resources.

We use energy in almost everything that we do. Whether that's browsing the internet, showering or cooking dinner.

With energy bills continuing to rise, we've put together this list of things we can all do to reduce our energy consumption and save money at home.

Easy ways to reduce your energy use

Air dry your laundry

Luckily summer has almost arrived and it's hanging our washing out season! Save on the huge amount of energy a tumble drier uses by always air drying laundry. 

It's easy to air dry sustainably with wooden clothes pegs, but you should also consider air drying in the cold months on a clothes horse to really cut down on energy use. 

Save up your dirty dishes

Reduce the frequency you run your dishwasher by only running it when full and always running it on the eco setting. Plates and cutlery do not need to be rinsed before adding to the dishwasher, by avoiding this, you'll see reductions in your water and energy bills.

It's worth considering switching to eco-friendly dishwasher tablets that avoid nasty chemicals and don't harm waterways either. 

Turn it off

All lights and appliances should be turned off when not in use. Many appliances like TVs can cost you £16 extra a year in energy just by leaving them on standby.

Even toasters, lamps & chargers consume "vampire energy" when they're plugged in. It's best to turn them all off at the wall when not in use.

The 5 minute rule

Really reduce your energy and water bills by limiting the time you take for showering. Try to limit your showers to 5 minutes - try listening to your favourite song! - and if possible, only showering 4 times a week. 

You could reduce the energy use even more by turning off the stream of water between soaping and shampooing. Only if you can hack those brief moments of cold!

Wash at 40

By washing all your clothes at 40 degrees or less, your washing machine will use less energy to heat up the water necessary.

Using a suitable washing detergent like laundry detergent sheets or an EcoEgg can help to remove dirt and stains more quickly, avoiding the need to wash more than once and saving more energy.

Don't fill up

Boiling a kettle uses more energy than you'd expect, with the average kettle using 2-3kW of energy, one kettle boil could cost you 36p. All those cups of tea soon add up!

The best way to reduce this cost is to only fill up to the level of water that needed.

Keep it shut

The easiest way to reduce the energy consumption of your fridge/freezer is by only keeping the doors open for a short amount of time. Think about what you need to get out before opening the door and reduce the amount of time it's left open.

You can help reduce energy even more by keeping your freezer fully stocked and your fridge 3/4 full. This gives less room for warm air to get into all the pockets when the door is open. Try these food storage solutions for keeping food fresh and your fridge neat and tidy.

Using these energy saving tips will hopefully help to reduce your next energy bill and limit your energy use as much as possible.

Are there any easy energy saving tips we've missed? Let us know in the comments.