Carer Tips: Reducing your energy bills
With electricity and gas bills having increased recently, and more of the same expected soon, we've put together some tips to help you lower your bills whilst caring:
Catch the little savings
When added together, little things can make a difference. For example:
- turn lights off when you leave a room
- avoid leaving unnecessary devices on 'standby'
- microwave small portions of food (rather than heat up the oven)
- only boil the water you need (keeping a mug by the kettle makes it easy to measure)
Wear layers of clothes
Do some of your caring tasks make you hot and sweaty - followed by cold and clammy? By wearing just one layer whilst working hard, and using sweaters/ fleeces to ‘layer up’ as you cool off, you’ll be able to maintain a more comfortable temperature throughout the day. Also, having thermals, scarves, shawls, fingerless gloves, hand muffs, cushions and lap rugs to hand for your caree can greatly help them maintain a comfortable temperature, especially if they are elderly and have restricted mobility.
Lower Thermostats
The Committee on Climate Change recommends setting your thermostat to 19°C and Age UK recommends older people keep the rooms they use most at 21°C. However an estimated 17.7 million UK households (64%) are setting their thermostat to 20°C or higher, while 2.7 million households are setting it to 25°C or more. Research by uSwitch.com shows turning your thermostat down by just 1°C could save you more than £80 per year. Considered turning off/down radiators in as many of your rooms as you can. So long as your caree has somewhere sufficiently warm to wash and change, they might also benefit from feeling less of the sleepiness often associated with stuffy, overheated rooms.
Make the most of the heat you are being billed for
Consider what you can do to reduce draughts and heat losses whilst still having sufficient ventilation. For example:
- Delaying opening curtains on cold mornings and closing them early on chilly evenings keeps more heat in the house.
- Check that your curtains fit well and if they’re immediately above a radiator consider whether you want to reduce heat going behind the curtains by using string (attached to hooks either side of the window) to keep them tight against the window ledge.
- Fitting DIY draught excluder in gaps around windows and doors, and add thermal linings to curtains need not be expensive and can be money well spent. You might also be eligible for grants for insulation.
Explore other options
Which have a published a great article that provides more details about how to reduce your heating bills: https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/boilers/article/tips-to-reduce-your-heating-bills-aqik36F56DvJ