Energy Saving Tips

23 October 2008

It's UK Energy Saving Week (October 2008) and Jersey ECO-ACTIVE has partnered with the Jersey Electricity Company to bring together 15 helpful tips that will help you to save energy, help the environment and combat rising fuel prices. Please pass these tips onto friends and neighbours who you think might benefit or print out this poster.

Following these simple energy saving tips can help to reduce your energy consumption, saving you money and helping the environment… 

1. Turn down the central heating thermostat by just 1ºC and you could save yourself 10% on your electricity bill (keep to 21ºC - if you are elderly or infirm).
2. Washing your clothes at 30ºC rather than 60ºC can be just as effective for soiled clothes and can save you over a third on your electricity bills.
3. Boil only the water you need for one cup instead of a full kettle & save around £31 a year (always ensure the element is covered).
4. Keep saucepan lids on & turn down the heat – your dinner will cook quicker & you won’t be wasting energy.
5. Avoid covering radiators with curtains – which will restrict the airflow, instead have your curtains lifted slightly on a window sill, to ensure heat enters the room.
6. Use low energy light bulbs - they last up to 12 times longer than ordinary light bulbs & consume about a fifth of the energy.
7. Switch it off! Avoid leaving electrical appliances on stand-by and leaving appliances charging unnecessarily: just by unplugging your mobile phone charger you could save around £4 a year.
8. Without loft insulation you could be losing 20% of your heating through the roof. Insulating your loft could save £140 per year on your energy bills.
9. Water needs to be hot, but never scalding. For most people, setting the cylinder thermostat at 60ºC/140ºF is fine for bathing and washing.
10. Fill your washing machines / dishwashers - don’t use part loads.
11. Feeling the cold? If so, stop draughts and heat escaping from openings and poorly fitted window frames by draught proofing the gaps around doors and windows. This measure could shave £10-20 off your annual heating bill. Put draught strips around windows and outside doors and fit a flap across the letter-box.
12. Insulate your hot water tank cost from as little as £15 & will often pay for itself within months.
13. Turn off lights when leaving a room (we spend 10% of our electricity bills on lighting – always use low energy light bulbs!)
14. Insulate your walls. Uninsulated walls can account for up to a third of the heat loss in your home. Fitting cavity walls insulation, for example, could save you up to £160 a year.
15. When replacing appliances consider the most energy efficient – look for the label. If your current fridge freezer is more than 10 years old, an upgrade could potentially save you around £45 a year.