As the price of energy gets higher, people are looking for ways to cut down their energy usage at home.
Millions of people across the UK breathed a sigh of relief when Prime Minister Liz Truss announced the Government would guarantee the average household will pay no more than £2,500 in energy bills. However, the guarantee is a maximum price per unit of gas and electricity, so households which consume more than the average will see their bills higher than that.
With prices for energy getting higher and higher, people are searching for ways to cut down their monthly gas and electric usage. Which? have suggested nine surprising ways people can save some extra cash by reducing their energy bills.
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1. Wash bigger loads, less often
You might thing using a quicker washing cycle with a smaller load of clothes would save money, but it's actually better to fill up your washing machine's drum. Fewer large washed is actually more efficient.
The same applies to a dishwasher, according to Which? Reducing how often you use these two appliances once per week could save you £16 per appliance over a whole year, for a total yearly saving of £32.
2. Make use of auto settings
The eco program on a dishwasher and washing machine will most likely be the cheapest programme to run. Any extra features you switch on can also have just as big of an impact as which programs you choose.
If your dishwasher has an automatic door opening setting, make sure to use it. This will allow your dishwasher's door to open slightly at the end of a wash to help drying and reduce energy use.
Auto settings on your tumble dryer can also help you not over-dry clothes and waste energy. Alternatively, avoid using your tumble dryer entirely to reduce your annual energy bills by as much as £170.
3. Remove limescale from your kettle
If you have limescale in your kettle it will take longer and use more energy to boil the same amount of water, according to Which?. The company watchdog recommend using citric acid as it won't leave any lingering taste or smells.
4. Clear out your oven
Often people leaving baking trays in the oven as extra storage, but people don't know this can block airflow and mean your oven has to work overtime and use more energy. The trays can also lead to uneven cooking.
People should also avoid opening the door often as it decreases the internal temperature, increasing cooking time and wasting energy.
5. Use an air fryer, microwave, pressure cooker or slow cooker
An even cheaper way to cook is to use a smaller cooking appliance such as a microwave, air fryer, slow cooker or similar. These will often be cheaper to run than an oven, completing the same cooking task with less energy.
A microwave can be used to for everything from quickly steaming vegetables to baking potatoes. Combi microwaves with built in convection ovens are even more versatile. An air fryer can make tasty fried food with less oil and less energy.
In effect it is a small convection oven, but uses less energy as the space it is heating up is smaller. You can also use an air fryer to bake, with many including recipes for brownies, cookies and more.
A slow cooker is on for many hours at a time, but as it uses such a small amount of energy, in the end it is more economical. Just like with an oven though, don't be tempted to keep peeking at your dinner. Keep the lid on to avoid reducing the temperature and wasting energy.
6. Defrost ahead of time in the fridge
So much electricity is spent keeping cold things cold and then heating up the cold things when they're needed – so why not take advantage of that to reduce energy use. Defrosting frozen items in the fridge will reduce cooking time (as you're cooking from chilled rather than frozen) and will also reduce the energy consumption of your fridge.
Not only is this the safest method of thawing your food, but it also helps to cool down the inside of your fridge. This means the compressor will have less work to do and the amount of energy required to keep your fridge chilled will be reduced.
Some things do need to be cooked from frozen so do check labels first. Defrosting in the fridge is ideal for pre-frozen leftovers, or meat and fish that you plan on cooking later that day.
7. Clean the coils at the back of your fridge
Dust lurking on the coils at the back of your fridge can stop it from cooling properly. In the worst cases, especially dusty coils can increase energy use by up to 25%.
Depending on your fridge-freezer this could cost as much as £45 more a year if you have the most energy-hungry model. Which? advises checking and dusting them about twice a year by gently vacuuming then brushing away any remaining dust.
8. Make sure air can get to those coils
Cleaning the coils regularly will be easier if you can easily get to them. Make sure there is some air that can get to them as less air circulation around the back of your fridge can make your appliance work harder, as the coils can't cool down naturally, increasing energy use.
With built-in models, there isn't much that can be done, so they can just be naturally less efficient. But with free-standing models you can make sure they've got some room to breathe.
9. Defrost your freezer
If your freezer isn't frost-free, then you need to make sure you defrost it regularly to prevent a build up of ice. Not only will it take up precious space where your food should be, but the ice actually acts as an insulator.
This means your freezer has to work harder in order to penetrate that block of ice to keep your food cold, and therefore it will cost you more in electricity to run.
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