Energy saving tips

Showering Smart

Showers take up less water than baths, so less gas is used during the process. If you want to save some money, choose showers over baths. The next time you come back from a workout, attempt to shower for one minute less than usual. Doing this will save £7 a year on your energy bills per person. So, the more people you live with, the more you could save!

Be careful in the kitchen

Working from home can mean the kettle is seeing much more use, so take care to only fill the kettle with the amount of water you require, this will avoid the cost of re-boiling and re-filling unnecessarily and save yourself £6 a year.

Change your homely habits

With extra time at home, you can look at changing some of your other inefficient habits. Outside of quick heating and hot water adjustments, there are several quick changes you can make around your working environment to further reduce costs.

For example, turning off laptop switches - and not leaving it on standby - could save you an extra £30 per year according to Energy Saving Trust, while brushing teeth or shaving with cold water would also help save further.

Taking control of your heating

If you already have a full set of heating controls, turning down your room thermostat by just one degree could save you £80 over the year - you’d barely notice the difference.

A room thermostat monitors the air temperature and enables you to set the level you want. If the room temperature drops below this level, the thermostat switches your boiler on. The recommended setting is around 21°C for comfort when at home relaxing or sitting in your temporary office. This can be more like 18°C when you’re active at home, rather than home working or sitting down relaxing.

To find the best temperature for your home, you must tailor it to your lifestyle. So find the temperature that suits you and keeps you comfortable whilst working from home and set your heating control to one degree less than this – say 20°C. Remember that you can wear layers too!