Save money quickly

What you can do right now to reduce costs and feel warmer

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Cheaper, smarter electricity and gas tariffs

The biggest way of saving, and no cost. There are dynamic tariffs that save a lot of money (like, 20, 30 or 40%) compared to the standard variable tariffs you see on comparison sites. The only catch is that because they are dynamic, they can rise without warning if market conditions change, so you need to keep an eye on them, at least weekly. There are websites which allow you to set up email alerts, like https://octotrack.co.uk/. If you sign up to one of these make sure you can leave when you like if the prices change against you - normally you can.

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See our smart tariffs page for more inf.o. At the time of writing some of the cheapest are Octopus tracker (daily price) and Agile Octopus (half hourly price change), so you benefit more if you can shift when you use power). Current prices for Octopus dynamic tariffs and compared at https://energy-stats.uk/.

Most smart tariffs are for electricity, but Octopus also has a gas tracker.

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Draughtproofing

Grab a roll of broad parcel tape. If you like, get a roll of white tape, to make this all look nicer.

Then, go round each window, running your hand over the frames of every opening window to see which ones are leaking cold air. Then just tape up the gaps. You may need to remove it come spring so you can open the windows, but for now this is a quick and easy way to stop draughts. It may not be beautiful but feeling warmer is!

Check if you have any trickle vents. These are narrow vents, normally in the window frame, intended to stop homes getting damp. So long as you do not have damp problems in a room, like condensation or black mould, then make sure these vents are shut.

External doors: If you have an unused door, you may be able to tape this up like a window. But if it's a draughty door you're using, you will need draughtproofing tape, available on a roll from DIY shops. It's sticky strip maybe 10mm wide, with foam backing. For any draughty edge of a door, open the door, an stick the strip down on the part of the frame that the door closes against, so that the door compresses the foam when shut. (Make sure the door is not swiping the foam sideways as that will quickly fall off.)

Floors: some older ground floors, especially in Victorian buildings, may have a void underneath vented to the outside, and you might get draught through between the floor boards. Carpet is the quickest way to reduce this. While new carpet is of course expensive, you may be able to get second hand rugs from a charity shop or second hand carpet given away on sites like freecycle.org.  

Roof: A draughty loft hatch can be sealed with tape or the same draughtproofing strip you use for doors. In the loft itself, they are supposed to be draughty to avoid damp, but maximise your loft insulation (see below).

All this is most easily done on a windy day, but you'll catch the worst ones on any cold day.

 

Turn down boiler flow temperature

Modern boilers, whether gas or oil, are condensing boilers, which means they gain extra heat and efficiency from condensing most of the exhaust plume into water. But they can't do this if the whole boiler is so hot that the steamy exhaust plume never condenses, which can be the case if the flow temperature is set above about 65C. (the flow temperature is the temperature the boiler heats up the radiators to). If a boiler fails to condense, it may turn only 70% of your gas power into heat, rather than 90%, which could cost you 20% more on your gas bill.

So, make sure your flow temperature is no higher than 60C. To do this, look for a temperature display on your boiler. It may be on an LCD display under a flap, or it might just be on a control knob, perhaps with a radiator symbol. If its's on the control knob you can just turn this down to 60C and you're done. Otherwise check the LCD display when your boiler is fully warmed up to see how high it goes. If it goes above 60C, you will need to adjust the target flow temperature. There is more at the heating hub on how to change the flow temperature for various boilers, or you can Google for the instructions for your boiler.

After turning down your flow temperature, you may need to run your boiler for longer to get the same heating effect, but it will cost you less not more because you've made it much more efficient.

 

Turn down the thermostat

Obvious we know. But a 1C cut in the average indoor temperature can save around 8% off your heating bill.  How warm do you need it really? Most people keep their homes between 18 and 21C, so aim for lower. A lot is about what you're used to. Try edging it down gradually over a few weeks.

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Only heat when you need to

(This only applies to gas or oil boilers, NOT heat pumps!)

A home loses more heat, the greater the difference between the indoor and outdoor temperature. And you pay to replace that heat, as your thermostat clicks the boiler on when the temperature falls. So the colder your house, the less heat it loses, until it stops losing heat altogether at maybe 8C (eg if you're away). So you will save money by letting it get cold at night, then heating it up again in the morning, compared to leaving it on all or most of the night. Also your bedrooms will be cooler, which is better for sleep. Do not pay attention to those who say it's cheaper to leave it on all the time, they're wrong (if you want to sense check this, ask yourself if you would go away for a month in the winter and leave the heating on the whole time).

This does not necessarily mean turning the heating off entirely. Most heating systems have frost protection which turn the heating on if the indoor temp goes below 5C, which protects you from freezing pipes. And if your heating controls allow it, you might wish to programme a "setback" temperature overnight, eg 15C, which gives you gas saving while making it easy enough to warm up in the morning.

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Watch out for fan heaters

Some people think it's better to use an electric fan heater (or any other electric heater) in one room than heat the whole home with central heating. BUT electricity is 4x as expensive as gas, so this only works if you're cutting the area heated by more than 3/4. But if you have a 2 room flat, you'll be spending more by using a fan heater.

The only electric heater this does not apply to is a heat pump.

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Only heat hot water when you need to

If you have a combi boiler you have hot water on demand and that's efficient. But if you have a hot water tank, you're storing hot water and some of the heat leaks away. To minimise this, only heat up the water as close to when it gets used as possible - eg just before morning showers. Whatever you do don't leave the hot water on all the time, ie continuously reheating after use. You'll waste maybe a third of the heat. (this is because a good hot water cylinder will stay hot maybe 3 days. So it loses 1/3 of its heat per day. On continuous reheat, you reheat the water immediately after your shower, then it sits there cooling down till next day, and you pay to replace that heat).

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Get the best out of your radiator valves

Most homes have adjustable radiator valves called TRVs: thermostatic radiator valves, normally with settings from 1 to 5 or 6. These control how hot each room gets before the radiator shuts itself off. It stops you overheating rooms and this saves gas. However, many people don't use them properly. In particular, if they come home to a cold house they may turn up the TRVs, thinking that this will speed up the warming of a room - but it doesn't. The room heats up at the same rate but then overheats, costing you more. The room will warm up at the same rate regardless, which is based on how big the radiator is compared to the room, and the flow temperature. So this is the best way to use TRVs:

• set them all to a midpoint, eg 3 if it goes up to 6.

• Go about your day with the heating on, and wearing at least 2 layers. If you're quite warm enough, nudge the TRV down a little - by maybe 1/4 on the TRV dial. Keep doing this, over a few days, until you find you're too cold. Then turn the TRV back up a nudge, and you've found the best balance of comfy and cheap.

• If you have rooms you're not using, turn them down to 1 or 2, especially if they are on one end of the house, or in an exposed wing. (if they're in the centre of the house, this has less effect, as the used rooms lose heat into the unused one.)

 

Home hacks to keep electricity bills down:

Obviously, turn things off you're not using. But the impact of little items like phone chargers has been exaggerated (and these devices are now more efficiently designed), so don't sweat it.

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Much more important are the big energy users like washing machines, freezers and tumble driers. Here are some expensive habits to get out of, and few home hacks to improve efficiency:

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Tumble driers: Try not to use it at all, unless there is a real emergency (suddenly finding your daughter's football kit is still wet 1 hour before kick-off....). If you have a garden, dry washing on the line in summer, and in the spare room in winter. Watch out for condensation and mould though, if you suffer from either then you're better off using the tumble drier. A compromise is to take out some easy dry items eg sportswear, and tumble the rest.

Unlike with a washing machine, a tumble drier is not more efficient when full, so just dry the minimum. You are paying to evaporate that water.

You can also save money, and space, by having a washer drier rather than both a washing machine and tumble drier.

If you don't have space to dry washing without damp problems, then you are probably better off using a tumble drier. You will still be greener than those who are heating excess space!

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Fridges & freezers: The first thing to avoid is the dreaded vampire fridge! This is the old fridge that got put in the cellar or garage, plugged in, to keep extra food or drinks in, but is in fact rarely used. As an old device it will be inefficient, and pointlessly costing you money. Get rid of it, or consider just plugging it in for special occasions, like a party where you need to cool extra drink.

In your main fridge-freezer, make sure it is defrosted regularly. If you get a lot of ice check the seals round the door by seeing if you can trap a piece of paper it it. If the seal can't grip the paper, it will be leaking cold and building ice, reducing space inside and using more energy. Clean or replace the seal.

A fridge or freezer is more efficient if full, as less cold air falls out each time you open the door. So if there are large empty spaces put extra things in, whether they need to be chilled or not.

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Washing machine: It is extraordinary how different peoples' clothes washing habits are. Some families will have the machine on every  day, for others it will be once a week. Whatever your approach, try to only wash things that actually need it, and wait until you have a full load. Use the lowest temperature you can, most clothes and laundry liquids are designed now to wash at 30C.

 

Dishwasher: The same applies to dishwashers. Wait until you have a full load, and use the lower temperature eco-programme. There is one useful hack: you don't need to pay to dry your dishes, so work out when the rinse part of the cycle finishes, and then stop the machine and let the dishes dry in the air, rather than electric drying by the machine. Some machines have lights that tell you where it is in the cycle.

It will normally be cheaper to wash dishes in the sink than use a dishwasher. Dishwashers use less water but more energy than hand washing.

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TVs, video, computers & games consoles: Hack: use multiplugs to collect all the devices for one set up (eg TV, DVD, console) under one plug, so one flick can turn the whole lot off. Get into the habit of doing this before you go to bed. You could also use a cheap timeswitch to do this automatically. Some devices eg games consoles & PCs can be programmed to sleep automatically, so use this function. Some games consoles can be very energy hungry, we have a PS4 that uses more than any TV.

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Lighting. Turn off lights, obviously. But just as importantly, make sure you're not using old style incandescent lightbulbs on a regular basis. (these are the old ones you can burn your hand on). Replace them with LED (which are very cheap now) or move them to a rarely used fitting, eg in the loft.

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Loft insulation:

There is a cost to this one, maybe £300 for an average house. But it's the best value energy investment there is. A house may lose a third of its energy through the roof. If you top up loft insulation from the basic 100mm normally found between joists, to 300mm total, you save 2/3 of this, ie 20% of your heating bill. With an average space heating bill at around £800, you save £160 a year, so payback in less than 2 years.

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Heat the person not the room

This one is for the really committed! If you live alone, you can heat just yourself, not the whole home, using personal heating products like electric blankets and jackets, which are quite cheap and use a tiny amount of power - we have an electric jacket that runs off a phone power pack!

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Many of these products are intended for people keeping warm outside like motorcyclists, but they work just as well indoors and can save something close to your entire heating bill. However don't let the house get too cold. Apart from freezing pipes, electric clothing products might still leave you with cold hands or feet, and you need to avoid any mould developing in your home, which is bad for health.

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