A cold water wash in the washing machine costs about 10% of the cost of a hot water wash. When buying a washing machine consider a suds saver. They wash many loads and reuse water and soap powder. Use washing water to kill aphids and garden bugs on roses and other outdoor plants.
Don’t use a washing machine or dryer unnecessarily. Wait until you have a full load to wash. Whenever possible, let Mother Nature do your drying. If you do use a dryer, don’t over fill it.
I have a heated towel rail, but never use it! In winter, I place my bath towels in the airing cupboard overnight, they’re still warm and bone dry when I use them the next morning. Luxury!
Plug all of your TV, DVD, Sky, Freeview etc devices into a plug gang behind. When you go to bed, turn the one switch off at the wall and all those annoying power hungry devices that would normally be on standby 24/7 will be off when you don’t want them. One flick of the switch […]
There are conflicting thoughts on if it is better to switch off appliances rather than leave them on standby. Of course it depends on the type of appliance, use the “on/off” function on the machine itself. A TV set that’s switched on for 3 hours a day (the average time Europeans spend watching TV) and […]
When your teenagers have jobs and are still living with you, get them to pay the monthly power bill in lieu of a board payment. It is powerful (excuse the pun) motivation to turn off lights and heaters and have short showers. The more power they can save, the more money in their pockets at […]
Turn off towel rails when the towels are dry. This will cut down the power usage by about half.
Oily rag ed – It costs plenty to heat the air in your home, so don’t waste it. In colder climates the winter heating bill can be horrendous. Just under half (42% on average to be exact) of all household heat is lost through the ceiling, so insulate this first. Many older homes have no […]
For those with a wood burner or pellet heater: Install a small swivel fan high up in a corner of the room. It will drive warm air down to where you need it most and, if you like, into adjoining rooms.
I have a heat pump but it does not cost me much to run as I also have a DVS which blows the warm air from the roof space down to dry and warm my home. I also have a solar panel to heat the water. My bill averages $80 over the year, last one […]