Reducing Your Home Energy Bills

Regardless of what your primary source of heating is, if you have a secondary source of heating such as a wood burner or a gas fire, use this only after the primary heating has been on to warm your home. If your home is empty all day, turn the heating on for a couple of hours and allow the house to heat through. Turn it off and use your fire for heating. Wear close-fitting clothing to keep your body heat in and wear socks. Make sure babies have tights on and children wear socks and slippers. A pair of slippers will keep your feet warm and make you feel warmer. Oil filled radiators are a cheaper way if for example, you need to warm a child's room before bed.

Cutting energy bills can also be achieved by assessing your daily usage. If you have a gas stove, use an old fashioned kettle and keep the gas turned down to the lowest level and you will have enough hot water to keep you going in hot drinks. Electric kettles are one of the worst offenders for adding to electricity bills. If you have no gas, then only use the bare miminum of water. Make sure all sockets which are not in use are turned off. Showers are a much cheaper option for bathing and if you have a small baby, then bathing in the sink will avoid the cost of heating water which may not be used. Check your meters on a weekly basis to assess your consumption and never leave electrical gadgets on standby. Turn off lights and switch to energy saving lightbulbs which are proven to use less power.

Check your loft is insulated. Heat rises and most heat is lost through the roof. Contact your local council to see if you're entitled to any grants which are available for loft insulation. If you can afford it, solar panels are a great way to cut down on heating costs and you will see the benefits with reduced heating bills. and check out other heating sources such as biomass heating systems. Make sure your boiler is serviced regularly as an overworked boiler can cost more to run.