Household savings we can all make

There is an old saying that tells us to work harder not smarter, and nothing could be closer to the truth when it comes to making household savings that make sense without compromising our comfort and having to work harder to achieve the results we want.

There are areas of your household budget where you can achieve noticeable savings without sacrifice and one of those is heating bills.

Appliances Did you know that the use of washing machines and dishwashers in an average property account for 25% of the overall electricity cost?

With the cost of energy surging, there are simple ways to reduce your bills

• According to the Energy Saving Trust, just by turning down the temperature at which clothes are washed from 40 to 30 degrees cuts costs by 57%

• Only use washing machines and dishwashers when you have a full load

• Depending on what tariff you have, it is cheaper to run appliances at night

Kitchen 19% of the average property’s electricity costs are down to our use of kitchen appliances such as ovens, kettles, hobs and microwave ovens.

Fridges and freezers obviously run permanently and are the fourth biggest user of power

• Consider not overfilling them which makes the motors work harder and consume more power

Electronic equipment Laptops, games consoles and televisions account for 19% of electrical usage in the home.

• By not leaving equipment on stand-by, up to £35 pa can be saved

• When buying a new TV, the larger the screen, the greater the electricity cost. Do you need a bigger screen?

Lighting Lighting homes costs money. Time to change our habits.

• Turn lights off in rooms which are no longer occupied

• Teach family members not to leave lights on

• Consider changing all light bulbs for LEDs to save money and cut down the need to replace them so often

With a little extra thought, but without being inconvenienced or sacrificing comfort, savings can certainly be made.