How To Save Electricity and Lower Your Bills

As the cost-of-living crisis continues to put a strain on your finances, and energy bills rising further than anticipated in October, there are more people looking for ways to save money wherever possible.

And not only is the rise in energy prices daunting, but with more people working from home it’s not unlikely that many will see their energy bills increase.

However, making small changes over the course of the year can add up and potentially reduce your energy bills by hundreds.

So whether you want to save as much as possible, or you’re trying to be more carbon efficient, reducing your electricity usage is a great way to start.

Read on below for our top tips to help you save as much as possible with some simple adjustments and information on schemes that could help.

As prices are rising, you might think it would be a good time to switch to a fixed rate deal to avoid paying more in the future.

However, due to the current financial climate, switching energy providers can be very expensive. Fixed rate deals have gone up significantly in price, so it can be tricky to find a deal worth switching for.

However, there are small changes you can make to lower your yearly bills instead.

Starting from October, £400 will be paid in six monthly instalments to every household, and you won’t need to repay it. But with prices expected to rise by an additional £1,200, it isn’t near enough to cover the huge rise.

The way you pay for your electricity will determine how you receive the discount:

• If you pay by direct debit your discount will be automatically deducted from your monthly charge, or you’ll receive it as a refund paid into your bank account.
• If you pay with a “smart” pre-payment meter, your discount will be credited automatically to your meter in the first week of every month.
• Credit and payment card customers will also receive the discount automatically. It will be applied as credit to your account in the first week of every month, appearing as if you have made the payment yourself.
• Traditional meter customers will receive discount vouchers or Special Action Messages (SAMs) via text, email or post from the first week of every month. You can redeem these at your usual top-up point.

A smart meter is a handy tool to see how much energy you’re using and The National Grid are offering money to those who use less energy during peak times.

You could get £6 per kWh you save, so if you make the most of it you could be saving hundreds a year. They hope to launch the scheme in October, so keep an eye out for more news.

An easy way to save around £55 a year is by turning your appliances off instead of leaving them in standby mode. Simply turning off your electrical appliances at the socket can make a helpful difference. 

And the majority of these appliances’ programming won’t be affected by being switched off completely.

There are also smart plugs you can get which turn all your appliances off at onc

Heating is expensive and every degree can make a difference to your bill. In fact, lowering the temperature on your thermostat by just one degree can save you up to £80 a year.

You can also use a smart thermostat to control your heating remotely and understand exactly how much energy your central heating is using.

Apart from new builds, the majority of houses can easily lose heat through gaps and draughts in windows, chimneys, doors and flooring.

If you notice a strong draught, it might be more cost-effective to replace your effected windows. At Able we’re only able to replace the glass and not the frames, but we can help get rid of any draught coming from your windows.

You can keep the heat in by insulating your pipes, getting a chimney draught excluder and cavity wall insulation. By doing this, you won’t need to have your heating on as high which can save you a lot over the year.

Hot water is expensive to run, and the less you use the more you’ll save. A way to use less is to swap baths for showers and cut your shower as short as possible. 

Even overfilling the kettle and boiling more than you need can end up costing you more over the year. 

You can also save money with your washing machine and dishwasher. Lowering temperatures to 30 degrees where you can and reducing your amount of washes per week can help you save, as well as only running your dishwasher when it’s full.

Not only does reducing the amount of water you use save you money, but it also helps the environment. When you add up all of the above, you could notice a big chunk of money saved.

If your appliances aren’t energy efficient, they’ll cost more to run. It’s more cost-effective to replace an appliance that isn’t energy efficient, so as soon as you think something is wrong, get a professional over to check and replace it as soon as you can. 

For example, depending on how energy efficient it is, a washing machine can cost from £15 to £70 to run a year, so you can see the difference in price between an efficient machine and one that needs replacing. 

A way of noticing whether an appliance is no longer efficient is seeing a big rise in your bills.

We understand that not everyone will be able to use all these tips to save on their electricity bill, or the savings still won’t cover the huge rise in costs. If you’re one of these people, you should contact your supplier to see if there is anything they can do to help.

You may be able to set up a payment plan or install a prepayment meter to pay any debt off gradually.

if you need further help with the installation of your new electrical appliances, don’t hesitate to give us a call on 0330 108 4111