Easy ways to make energy go further at home - Village Green: North Yorkshire’s Community Climate Project

🌱 Easy ways to make energy go further at home

Make small changes to become more energy efficient

It can be difficult to know where to start when reducing your energy use. Factors such as the upfront cost of energy saving devices, competing household priorities and external factors, such as the weather, make the world of energy saving confusing and knowing where to start can be a challenge.

The good news is that there are some simple actions you can take to reduce your energy use today.

See simple ways to save energy at home Complete Home Energy Self-Check

Did you know?

Heating empty rooms and unused space can quietly add to bills

Standby power and inefficient lighting can waste electricity every day

Smart devices are increasing in popularity and may be a good way to avoid using energy when you don’t need it

Heating the person rather than the house can be effective in the autumn/ spring rather than putting the heating on

Reducing energy at home can help lower your carbon footprint and cut costs

Small changes to everyday habits can add up to meaningful reductions in household energy use.

While each action may seem minor on its own, the combined effect over weeks and months can lower energy bills and reduce environmental impact. Why not take on the challenge alongside friends and family to introduce a sense of friendly competition and have a chance to swap top tips!

No matter your type of home, there are easy ways you can save energy

Whether you live in a house, bungalow or flat, there are lots of easy ways to save energy.

It can be useful to do an energy audit to assess which of your devices are using the most energy and then decide how you can reduce their usage. If you don’t know where to start, a good tip is to have a walk round of your home and check what is turned on, e.g. lights, appliances, heating etc, and note this down.

Simple ways to make energy go further at home

Turn appliances off at the wall when not in use

For example, microwaves are usually only used for a few minutes a day, but are on constantly. Turning off these type of “vampire” devices at the wall can save you up to £45 a year.

Check the EPC rating of devices before you buy

It is easy to check EPC ratings of appliances before you buy them and this will help you to understand how much energy they will use. For example, an EPC rating of A represents a very energy efficient appliance device whereas an EPC rating G is not very energy efficient at all and should be avoided where possible.

Use devices more efficiently

For example, only filling the kettle up with the amount of water that you need can save you £11 per year. Descaling it regularly and using a kettle with a high energy efficiency rating will make it even more energy efficient.

Make easy swaps to use less water

According to the Energy Saving Trust, swapping just one bath to a shower each week can significantly reduce energy use and save £14 a year on your energy bills. Another good hack for using less water is using a water butt in your outside space to collect rainwater which can then be used for watering plants.

Complete an energy audit of your home

If you have a bit of free time, why not audit your home to see where you can save energy? There is lots of guidance about this online and an excellent guide can be found here: Home Energy Audit Checklist for UK Households

How efficient is your home?

Take this quick self-check list to spot a few simple ways you could save energy at home

Remember small, easy changes do add up to significant energy saving across the course of the year

Home Energy Self-Check