How to reduce energy bills this winter

As winter approaches and the price of energy is increasing, now more than ever, people are trying to save money where they can, so here at Victory Colours, we’ve put together a list of some tips on how to reduce energy bill this winter, with the aim to help save you some money and become more energy efficient. 

Tackle any draughty spots

If you live in an older home, you may find that you tend to lose heat through various gaps found all over the house. Heat will find a way to escape through gaps around doors, windows, floors, and even up the chimney. It will cost around £200 to have your house draught proofed, but it is a quick, easy, and cost effective way to instantly start saving you money on your energy bills for the foreseeable.

Replace your boiler

Older boilers tend to be a lot less energy efficient than newer ones. If your boiler is over 10 years old it is recommended that you consider replacing it.  A new boiler will help you reduce your energy bill. Although it is a large initial outlay of money to replace a boiler, it’ll pay or itself in the long run.

Insulation

As well as controlling the heating in your house, you need to also think about different ways to keep the heat in the house, while trying to lose as little as possible. Consider investing in underfloor, and roof insulation. A huge amount of heat is lost from having a poorly insulated home, it is important to think about installing proper insulation where you can, to in order to reduce energy bills, the less heat you need, then the lower your energy usage.

Here at Victory Colours, we stock a wide range of Wallrock thermal liners, perfect to keep your house well-insulated this winter.

Replace your lighting

Switching your lights to energy-efficient light bulbs such as LED lights will help you to save money and reduce your energy bills. With a lot of people still working from home, more energy is used from having the lights on more often. You can find LED light bulbs in so many shapes and sizes, meaning it should be easy enough to find LED bulbs to replace the majority of them in your house. Not only will replacing light bulbs with energy efficient LED bulbs, help reduce energy bills, but if you also remember to turn them off whenever and wherever possible, you will keep your costs down.

Reduce your water usage

In a lot of cases, your water company will use your energy to pump hot water into your houses. Therefore, using your water wisely can make a big difference to your energy bill, here are some of the things you can do to help save some water and to reduce energy usage:

• Take shorter showers, try to avoid having baths
• Turn off the tap when you are brushing your teeth
• Make sure you are putting in full loads to your dishwasher, and washing machine
• Use cold water where you can instead of hot

These are just some of the main ways on how to reduce energy bills and water bills, but there any many other little changes you can be making along the way.

Upgrade your heating controls

It’s so easy to upgrade your heating controls, without having to replace your boiler and whole heating system. If you have old controls that are more than 14 years old, it is recommended that you consider upgrading your controls. This is an efficient way on how to reduce energy bill, as using any thermostat controls in the right way can help you save £75 a year on your bills. Not only is a thermostat a good thing to have installed, but by having a smart reader this will help you become more aware of your energy usage.