Tips and Advice

• Outside of House

  • Home Energy Check

    Why not carry out a home energy check? Just answer some simple questions about your home and we'll give you a free, impartial report telling you how you can save up to £270 a year on your household energy bills.
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  • Wall cavities

    Insulate your wall cavities. Around 33% of the heat lost in an uninsulated house leaks through the walls. You could save around £120 on energy bills each year by insulating your wall cavities - and keep your home a nice, even temperature. If we all filled our wall cavities, we'd save around £670 million worth of energy a year.
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  • Front Door

    Draft-proof your front door to prevent hot air escaping. In a typical home, 20 percent of the heat lost escapes through ventilation and draughts. Install draught-proofing and you could save around £25 a year on your heating bills and reduce your CO2 emissions by around 150kg.
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• Kitchen

  • Washing Machine

    Wash your clothes at 40°C instead of 60°C Washing your clothes at 40°C instead of 60°C uses a third less electricity. Use the economy setting and the half-load setting when you can.
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  • Fridge

    Defrost your fridge and freezer regularly. When buying a new fridge or freezer, look for the energy rating and the Energy Saving Recommended logo. Energy Saving Recommended appliances are the most efficient in their category and could save you up to £34 a year.
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  • Cooker

    Keep a lid on it when you're cooking! This traps in heat and reduces condensation. When cooking vegetables, use just enough water to cover them. Using the microwave instead of the oven will also save money.
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  • Taps

    Make sure your taps aren't leaking. A dripping hot water tap wastes enough hot water in a week to fill half a bath - so fix leaking taps and make sure they're fully turned off!
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  • Tumble Drier

    Try drying your washing outside! You could save over £100 every year by drying your washing outside or in a well-ventilated room rather than using your tumble-drier. That's enough to pay for washing powder for more than a year!
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  • Kettle

    Only boil as much water as you need! Only boil as much water as you need. (But be sure to cover the element in electric kettles.)
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• Lounge

  • TV

    Turn off your TV, video and hi-fi instead of leaving them on standby. The energy you'll save is like getting back 60% of the electricity you use playing music or watching your favourite soap!
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  • Window

    Draw your curtains at dusk and keep the heat from leaking through your windows. Lined curtains work best, and be careful not to drape them over radiators! Double-glazing can also cut heat loss through windows by 50% and reduce your heating bill by around £110 a year.
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  • Thermostat

    Turn your thermostat down. Lowering your room temperature by just 1°C could cut your heating bills by up to 10 percent and save you around £50 per year.
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  • Lamp

    Switch to energy-saving light bulbs. They last about 10 times longer than ordinary light bulbs, and each one you fit could save around £40 over its lifetime - or up to £60 if you’re replacing a bright incandescent bulb or one used more than a few hours a day. They come in a whole range of styles now!
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  • Set top box

    Turn off your set top box instead of leaving it on standby. In the UK, television set-top boxes left on standby waste £11 million of energy a year. That’s enough to run the London Eye for 85 years!
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• Bedroom

  • Mobile Phone Charger

    Unplug your mobile phone charger when not in use. Across the UK, mobile phone chargers left plugged in waste over £60 million a year and are responsible for a quarter of a million tonnes of CO2.
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  • XBOX

    Turn off your games console instead of leaving it on standby. If 100,000 kids switched their games consoles off rather than leaving them on standby, the energy costs saved could pay for 3000 computers to be sent to a Third World country.
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• Attic

  • Water Thermostat

    Check your hot water thermostat is at the right temperature. Is your water too hot? Your cylinder thermostat should be set at 60°C/140°F.
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  • Bolier

    Have a think about replacing your boiler if it's out of date. Save up to a third on your heating bills with a high-efficiency condensing boiler.
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  • Hot Water Tank

    Insulate your hot water tank with a jacket. It only costs a few pounds and, with all the heat it traps in, it pays for itself within months. Fit one that's at least 75mm thick and you could save around £30 a year. If every UK household that could fitted an adequate tank-jacket tomorrow, we'd save over £132 million of energy every year!