We all want to be more eco-friendly, but as the days grow colder, it’s easy to use more energy (and money) than we realise. Here are some practical things you can do to save energy this winter…

1. Keep internal doors closed

Keeping doors closed within the house will trap heat in each room and mean you use less energy trying to warm up your house. To keep the room even cosier, use a thick mat to block the heat from escaping through the gap underneath the door.

2. Cook clever

The oven heats up every shelf regardless of whether there’s food on each shelf so make the most of the energy you’re using by cooking more than one thing at a time. Try cooking several meals at once – you’ll have your dinner sorted for the rest of the week and you’ll save on energy.

3. Make better clothing choices

Did you know you could save £60 a year by turning your thermostat down by just 1 degree. Time to grab the slippers.

4. Keep consistent

Having your heating at a consistent low, rather than continuously turning it on and off, can actually save energy. This is because your boiler uses a lot of energy trying to warm to a high heat after being cold, then energy is wasted when it gets too hot and needs to be cooled again.

5. Treat yourself to a wooly winter throw

Putting a luxurious blanket over your duvet not only makes the room look lovely, it will also make a world of difference on a cold winters night, meaning you can keep your heating at a lower temperature.

6. Drop the pressure

Power showers use a lot of water, sometimes even more than running a bath. As you can imagine, this costs a lot of money and uses a lot of energy to heat. Try fitting a water efficient shower head and you’ll make significant savings.

7. Open the oven door

Once you’re done cooking, open the oven door and allow the excess heat to warm up your home instead of just wasting the heat by allowing the extractor fan to whip it up and take it outside.

8. Fill up the fridge

It’s time to stock up on some tasty treats, because through doing so you’ll be doing your fridge a favour: An empty fridge wastes far more energy than a full one, because the fridge has to work harder to keep everything cool. If food is compacted together it keeps cooler. Time to go and do a big shop!

9. Be ring efficient

Using a big cooker ring for a tiny pan is a huge waste of energy, as is putting a big pan on a tiny ring. If you’re only cooking a small amount of food, ensure that you’re only using a small pan on a small ring.

10. Air dry clothes 

If you have your heating on, don’t waste more energy putting wet washing in the tumble dryer. You’ll be surprised at how quickly clothes dry hanging on an airer in a warm room  – and your clothes will be far less creased than if they went in the dryer! BUT – don’t dry clothes on radiators themselves, your boiler will be forced to work harder and use more energy.

If you want to upgrade your energy efficiency, have you considered the Green Homes Grant announced by the government earlier this year?

If you’re a homeowner or residential landlord you can apply for a Green Homes Grant voucher towards the cost of installing energy efficient improvements to your home.

Improvements could include insulating your home to reduce your energy use or installing low-carbon heating to lower the amount of carbon dioxide your home produces.

You must redeem the voucher and ensure improvements are completed by 31 March 2022.

Vouchers will cover two-thirds of the cost of eligible improvements, up to a maximum government contribution of £5,000.

If you, or someone in your household, receive certain benefits you may be eligible for a voucher covering 100% of the cost of the improvements. The maximum value of the voucher is £10,000.

Here’s a link to the Government website to find out if you’re eligible and to apply: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-the-green-homes-grant-scheme