23 October 2008
It's UK Energy Saving Week (October 2008) and Jersey ECO-ACTIVE has partnered with the Jersey Electricity Company to bring together 15 helpful tips that will help you to save energy, help the environment and combat rising fuel prices. Please pass these tips onto friends and neighbours who you think might benefit or print out this
poster.
Following these simple energy saving tips can help to reduce your energy consumption, saving you money and helping the environmentâŠ
Turn down the central heating thermostat by just 1ÂșC and you could save yourself 10% on your electricity bill (keep to 21ÂșC - if you are elderly or infirm).
Washing your clothes at 30ÂșC rather than 60ÂșC can be just as effective for soiled clothes and can save you over a third on your electricity bills.
Boil only the water you need for one cup instead of a full kettle & save around ÂŁ31 a year (always ensure the element is covered).
Keep saucepan lids on & turn down the heat â your dinner will cook quicker & you wonât be wasting energy.
Avoid covering radiators with curtains â which will restrict the airflow, instead have your curtains lifted slightly on a window sill, to ensure heat enters the room.
Use low energy light bulbs - they last up to 12 times longer than ordinary light bulbs & consume about a fifth of the energy.
Switch it off! Avoid leaving electrical appliances on stand-by and leaving appliances charging unnecessarily: just by unplugging your mobile phone charger you could save around ÂŁ4 a year.
Without loft insulation you could be losing 20% of your heating through the roof. Insulating your loft could save ÂŁ140 per year on your energy bills.
Water needs to be hot, but never scalding. For most people, setting the cylinder thermostat at 60ÂșC/140ÂșF is fine for bathing and washing.
Fill your washing machines / dishwashers - donât use part loads.
Feeling the cold? If so, stop draughts and heat escaping from openings and poorly fitted window frames by draught proofing the gaps around doors and windows. This measure could shave ÂŁ10-20 off your annual heating bill. Put draught strips around windows and outside doors and fit a flap across the letter-box.
Insulate your hot water tank cost from as little as ÂŁ15 & will often pay for itself within months.
Turn off lights when leaving a room (we spend 10% of our electricity bills on lighting â always use low energy light bulbs!)
Insulate your walls. Uninsulated walls can account for up to a third of the heat loss in your home. Fitting cavity walls insulation, for example, could save you up to ÂŁ160 a year.
When replacing appliances consider the most energy efficient â look for the label. If your current fridge freezer is more than 10 years old, an upgrade could potentially save you around ÂŁ45 a year.