With food and energy bills still on the rise, most people have been looking for all kinds of ways they can cut back.
From using heated airers to dry washing instead of tumble driers or the dreaded central heating, to ditching ovens in favour of air fryers, households have been making changes to keep costs down.
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One of those is the iron. Yes, most people hate ironing and while more and more people seem to avoiding it altogether - hanging clothes straight from the wash to avoid creases and what not - for others it's a necessity.
If you have shirts to iron for school or work for example, you probably have little choice.
And as if having ironing is not annoying enough, it's even more annoying to think you're paying for the pleasure.
In fact, according to Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis it can cost 37p an hour and that's for one that's not particularly powerful.
What he does say though is that using 'eco' mode on appliances can help to reduce costs.
I decided to put my old iron to the test against a fancy new one from AO, with its own 'eco' setting to see how it fared.
Using a energy-usage monitor I measured how much it cost for both my old iron and the Philips Steam Iron GC4902/26 to iron the same type of clothing in the same sizes - three small T-shirts, three school shirts and five pairs of children's jogging bottoms.
It didn't take long, less than 10 minutes with each iron, but the small sample gives a rough idea of the cost difference.
My old iron is actually less powerful, 2400w, compared with the new one at 2800w and doesn't have an eco mode. And it actually used up twice the amount of energy of the Philips model, which was set on the environmentally friendly setting.
We're talking pennies for this experiment - the old iron costing 4p for the 11 items of clothing, compared to 2p with the new one - but when it's something you use day-in, day-out it soon adds up.
'Using eco mode on appliances where possible' is just one of the energy saving tips on MSE's checklist to cutting bills.
"Many appliances have modes which make them operate at different speeds, temperatures and levels of power," it says. "Often, they have an 'eco' mode, which is marketed as being more environmentally friendly.
"For most appliances, 'eco' mode means operating at a lower speed, and often, heat. It's frequently an option on washing machines and dishwashers. Using these modes will use less energy, in some cases even less than washing on a short cycle, and therefore will save you money on your energy bills."
Of course I had to get a new product, costing £95, to make use of the 'eco setting', but we needed a new iron anyway and it's far better and quicker at getting the job done.
I'm hoping that spending a bit extra on one will mean it lasts longer than our previous cheaper ones have.
I've found the eco setting works for everything really, with the iron gliding effortlessly over any clothing - helped by the special soleplate design to evenly spread steam.
The 2m cord length is particularly handy, as is the 'auto shut off' function, which means the iron shuts off itself if not used for a certain period of time, which helps to keep that bill down.
Its self-cleaning function also means you don't need to bother about limescale build up and the calcium is collected in a little tray at the bottom which can easily be emptied out.
AO offers a price match promise so if you see the product cheaper with another retailer before buying, you can call up and it will match that amount. If a product reduces online within seven days of you buying it, or with another retailer, you can also get the difference refunded.
Have you found that switching to an appliance's eco setting has saved you money? Have you upgraded an appliance recently to reduce your energy bills? Let us know in the comments.
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