TAKE ACTION NOW TO GET YOUR ENERGY BILLS DOWN

Winter is approaching and that means months of higher household energy consumption – and higher bills.  But there are some simple things that households can do to cut energy use.  Individually they may not make a great difference but collectively they will – perhaps as much as £200 per year.  The Heating Helpline issues some great energy saving tips – and they cost nothing or very little to do.

16 September 2014 – Winter is approaching and that means months of higher household energy consumption – and higher bills.  There are many ways that homeowners can bring these bills down – even one-third less – but these big reductions will mean making an upfront investment first in things like a new boiler, cavity wall insulation, solar panels and so on.  But there are some simple things that households can do to cut energy use.  

Individually they may not make a great difference but collectively they will – perhaps as much as £200 per year.  Heating Helpline (http://www.heatinghelpline.org.uk), the free consumer advice service operated by B&ES (the Building & Engineering Services Association), has some great energy saving tips – all costing little or nothing to do.

• Turning your room thermostat down by just 1ºC could save over £75 a year and you will never notice the difference.  And if there’s a chill in the room think twice before you crank up the thermostat – it’s then all too easy to forget it’s on the higher setting.

• If you have an adjustable thermostat for your hot water you should set it to no hotter than 60°C (140°F).  Any higher is a waste of energy and could scald; much lower and there may be a risk of harmful bacteria forming.

• Turn down the radiators in any spare rooms; why pay for a warm space with nobody in it?

• Use a microwave instead of your oven – they use less energy and take a fraction of the time.

• Nearly all electrical and electronic appliances can safely be turned off at the plug without upsetting their systems – £1 billion worth of energy is wasted in the UK every year by appliances left on standby.  Switching off the standby on gadgets and appliances could save you up to £80 a year on your bills.

• Washing machines use huge amounts of energy.  Some machines have low energy programmes – if you reduce the wash temperature from 40°C to 30°C it can save 40% more energy.

• Don’t fill the kettle if you don’t need to.  If we only boiled the water actually needed we’d save enough power to light every streetlamp in the country.

• Bleed your radiators at least once a year – when hot water can flow into every part of the radiator it is much more efficient.

• Change your shower head to one of the many water-efficient ones now available.  This simple action could save a family of four around £65 a year (for water heating) and a further £95 on water bills if they have a water meter.

The Heating Helpline has a free leaflet called ‘Top Energy Saving Tips To Save You Money’ which lists other free and low cost ways you can cut your energy bills.  For a free copy call the Helpline on 0800 810 8303 or you can download a copy from the Heating Helpline website at: http://www.heatinghelpline.org.uk.

Ends

Issued on behalf of the Building & Engineering Services Association (B&ES) by Next Step Marketing Ltd

Media enquiries to:  Heather Lambert.  Tel:  44(0)1256 472020;

Fax:  44(0)1256 471010; E-mail:  heather@nextstepmarketing.co.uk

Notes to editors

Since its formation in 1904, B&ES, the Building & Engineering Services Association (formerly the HVCA) has represented the interests of companies engaged in a wide range of building and engineering services including domestic heating and renewable technologies.

B&ES members are subject to regular, third-party inspection and assessment of their technical competence and commercial capability, carried out by an independent certification body at least every three years.

B&ES members who undertake gas installations are registered with Gas Safe – the gas safety watchdog body – and are also members of TrustMark, the Government-endorsed scheme designed to direct customers towards reliable tradespeople.

B&ES operates the Heating Helpline (http://www.heatinghelpline.org.uk) to provide consumers with free, impartial advice on every aspect of home heating.

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