Energy Advice

Energy efficiency seems to be on everyone’s lips these days. Boris Johnson has recently ploughed billions into refitting London’s offices so they are energy efficient, and there are grants and cuts left, right and centre to motivate homeowners to update their homes in order to cut bills and to cut down on carbon emissions.

If you’re not able to consider upgrading your home yet – after all, life is pretty expensive at the moment – you can still help the environment, and even cut down on some bills in the process.

Recycle and Clean Your Bins

With waste collection cost increasing, you need to look for ways to save. On cleaning day, spend time sorting your waste. Plastic, tins and paper are easy, of course because you have the bins from the council, but compost is often just chucked into the waste.

Fun fact: you can cut your yearly waste by 220kg if you use a compost bin – that works out at about a third of your waste that could be used effectively to clean up your family’s carbon footprint.

You can save a fair amount of money, and contribute to improving your environment by investing a garden composter, which will create some fertilizer for you to use to grow tomatoes and beans the following year (also saving you money!).

Recycling bins, though, are a hive for bacteria and muckiness. Once a month, clean your recycling bins. When the binmen have cleaned out the contents, squirt a little soap in, take a pressure hose (or stick your thumb over the end of a regular hose for the same effect) and give the bin a good clean. Especially around the top of the bin, pay attention. If you find your bin gets wet on underside of the lid, put a layer of cat litter in the bottom of the bin to absorb the moisture. If your bin starts to smell, you could consider using a laundry sheet to just take the edge off.

Air Your House

Windows let out a lot of heat – consider a badly insulated window as a good way to clean out your wallet. Hold your hand up to your window and you’ll feel the cold. By simply shutting your curtains you will keep that heat in and cut your winter bills considerably.

A mistake that many make, especially in winter, is to keep windows closed to keep the heat in, but this builds condensation, which grows mould around your window, which is a pain to clean.

To prevent mould growing on your window-sills, open two windows to get a through-draft. When the outside of your window has condensation on it, it’s OK to close the window, safe in the knowledge that you’ve completely aired your room. If you have mould on the windowsill or around the window itself, clean with a gentle wipe of vinegar, which appears to kill most types of mould.

Cut Electricity Bills

Another little energy-saver: throw down some draft-excluders and turn your heating down by just one degree and you will make a saving of over £40 a year! Of course, by closing your curtains, you’ll not need to have the heat up so high in the first place.
Our parents have been telling us this for years: turn the TV, computers and other electrical bits OFF rather than leaving the little red lights blinking and taking money away from you.

A big energy-sapper are your light bulbs. In the last few years, we’ve screamed away from the old style bayonets and moved towards low-energy light bulbs that last 10 or 12 times longer and save you up to £10 a year. As they emit less heat, you could also consider dropping a little aromatherapy oil on them to release a pleasant smell when they’re on. That said, keeping lights off as much as possible is a big step towards reducing your energy outgoings and incoming bills.
Clean up your lifestyle and start putting back into the environment with some really simple steps. You’ll save money and your home will be a nicer, cleaner place to be.

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