Energy Saving Tips | Control Your Energy Costs This Christmas
It’s the most wonderful expensive time of the year!
On average, UK households collectively spend around £66m on energy on Christmas Day alone. From festooning our homes and gardens with flashing festive lights and twirling, twinkling tinsel to carefully slow-cooking culinary creations, all the while cranking up the heating to conjure up that cosy Christmas vibe, it’s safe to say that we do have a more relaxed attitude to controlling our energy costs on the big day.
However, this year the nation is faced with exorbitant energy costs and a wider cost of living crisis, so it is imperative that we keep on top of our energy usage over the yuletide. We’ve compiled some useful tips below that will help you to keep your energy costs in check this Christmas.
Lead with LED
Switching to LED Christmas lights can reduce their energy consumption by up to 90%. Granted, these bulbs might be a little more expensive to buy at first, but they do have a far longer shelf life than normal bulbs as well as being more efficient, and therefore cheaper to run. Using these over the years during the festive will reduce energy costs and create savings greater than the initial outlay. Another option is to use fibre optic lights and decorations. Fibre optic products conduct light as opposed to electricity, providing a cost and carbon free option.
Festive Feng Shui
Everyone moves the room around about a hundred times to get the Christmas tree to fit, but it’s important that you do this wisely. When rearranging the furniture be sure that you don’t block any radiators. Anything that’s placed in front of the radiator will cause a blockage to the air flow and the radiator will emit less heat. If you have a wet system, this will make the boiler hard to reach the required temperature in the room. Also be sure to block out any draughts around the windows and letterbox with duct tape
Cosy Cooking
Allow your oven you chip in with heating the home. In many homes it tends to be on throughout the whole of Christmas Day so it will naturally emit high levels of heat. If you live in a smaller home then it might be worth switching the central heating off and let the oven heat permeate throughout the rooms as you have the oven door open and close periodically. The average Christmas dinner takes around 3 and a half hours meaning the central heating could be off for a hefty part of the day. However, if you live in a larger dwelling where the oven heat might not be enough to heat bigger rooms then it’s wiser to save and conserve energy by refraining from opening and shutting the oven door and losing heat.
Soaring Solar Savings
Outdoor Christmas lights are a serious affair, at times pushing past neighbourly competition! If you participate in outside decorating, it’s worth considering solar lights. This will allow you to join in on the Best Decorated House In The Street contest, whilst being conservative about your energy usage. It’s a myth that solar lights need sunlight to charge – they in fact only need daylight. Albeit we have shorter days, but there should be enough to charge your decorations and light up your home with Christmas cheer that is environmentally and economically friendly.
Know Your kW
If you are considering purchasing new radiators in time for Christmas, it’s crucial that you are aware of the British Thermal Units (BTUs) or kilowatts (kW) needed in order to heat the room efficiently. It might be alluring to go and buy the biggest radiator available in the thought that it will be provide the most heat quickly but this is uneconomic and futile. To find out the correct BTUs or kWs needed, factors such as room dimensions and window size need to be taken into account in order to calculate the correct radiator output required to heat the room adequately. Our online calculator will provide you with initial guidance on this but we do advise consulting with a plumber or engineer. This applies too if you are considering buying one of our mobile radiators that you can move around the house to heat the room that you are in.
Wrap More Than Presents
Some would say it’s the oldest trick in the book, but it’s not without merit. Adding a few layers will lessen the requirement for the central heating system to be on. Make use of those gifted socks your not keen on to keep warm and layer up on thick jumpers and blankets. Keep abreast of misinformation too; don’t believe the myth that it’s better to leave the heating on all day at a lower temperature. Whilst it would be unwise to allow the temperature to completely nosedive, the most economical way is to only turn the heating on when needed. It will save you money in the long run.
Watch Your Water
It’s important to be resourceful with your water. Hosting visitors and parties, serving large festive meals with all the trimmings as well as being at home more over the festive will mean more dishes are used in general. Make sure you load the dishwasher to capacity if you are lucky enough to have one and if you are washing manually be sure to use a basin as opposed to letting the water run. Resist the temptation to wash as you go to ensure you are conserving your water use and in turn easing off on the boiler.
A Christmas Clean
Include a radiator MOT in your Christmas cleaning to do list. If you have the heating on and you see cold spots at the bottom of the radiators then this could indicate that there is a build-up of sediment in the system. This means that the hot water cannot circulate properly and not allowing the radiators to reach the required temperature. The boiler will need to work harder also to try and bring the temperature of the room up. Cleaning out your radiators pre Christmas can eliminate this problem and it’s a good idea to regularly bleed the radiators also. This will guarantee optimum heating performance and help economise the bills.
One of our biggest spends at Christmas is on our heating and electric bills, yet it seems to be a secret splurge. Following a few of our simple tips can make a difference towards consumption and can help reduce the money spent on energy. Many of these tips will help you see the benefit far beyond when the tree is down, too. If you want to speak to any of our team regarding any of the above or discuss how an electric heating system can work in your home then please give us a call on 01698 820533 or email us at info@electric-heatingcompany.co.uk
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