With it being World Environment Day this week, saving energy and eco-friendliness are hot topics right now. The Governments latest rules and regulations and greener lifestyle trends are encouraging many homeowners to adopt a more cost-effective and environmentally aware lifestyle. If you feel you could do with toning down your households energy usage, or are generally interesting in adopting a greener way of life, here are our top tips for saving energy at home.
Install insulation
Installing loft insulation will help prevent heat escaping up through the top of your property. If you are looking to be extra environmentally friendly why not use 100% natural sheep wool.
Switch off and unplug
Switch off or unplug any chargers or electrical appliances. If they have a standby light, a display or are hot to touch they’ll be using energy just by being plugged in.
Wash clothes at a lower temperature
Most of your washing can be done at a lower temperature like 30 degrees and still provide the same results. Doing this will help to reduce your electricity consumption as your washing machine won’t need to heat the water to such a high temperature.
Generate your own electricity
If you’re serious about saving electricity then investing in solar panels or other renewable technology is a great way of doing this.
Be careful in your kitchen;
You can save more than you think just by using your kitchen appliances more carefully. Use a bowl of water to wash up rather than running the tap, only fill the kettle up to the amount of water needed and make sure you are doing full washes to cut back on your washing machine usage.
Take control of your heating
More than half of your money spent on fuel bills goes towards providing heating and hot water. There are many ways you can control your heating, whatever the age of the boiler- set your heating and hot water to come on and off when you need them, heat only the areas of your home that needs heating and set the temperatures for each area of your home.
Switch lightbulbs
LED bulbs are far more efficient then incandescent lightbulbs, they last longer and can provide a cleaner, more natural looking light.
Install smart switches
There are plenty of smart switches available now technology has advanced. From simple timed switches to ones that can be controlled by your smartphone- this is a great way to ensure that your appliances aren’t left on standby!
This all may sound pretty simple, but putting these tips into practise may be harder than you think.
Give them ago and see how much energy you can save!
Sources; Wind Turbine photograph by Jason Blackeye | Leaf photograph Micah Hallahan
