FUND your Christmas gifts… by switching
Yes, really! Here are FIVE ways to save €800 for your festive splurge
We’re splashing out around €1,000 each on Christmas presents alone each year. Much of this spending will be financed by borrowings – in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis – leading to hefty credit card bills in January.
So the last thing we need are skyhigh energy bills arriving at the same time.
But looking on the bright side, you could save €828 – almost the entire cost of Christmas – and cure your ‘plastic money’ hangover by following a few simple tips to slash your energy bills. Here are five easy ways to do just that:
1. SWITCH AND SAVE
Christmas came early this year for households still reeling from the energy cost crisis.
After a spate of energy price cuts in recent months, this week newbie Yuno slashed prices again, hopefully triggering a further round of decreases.
But many people are still stuck paying higher rates when they could make huge savings by switching to tasty new deals.
Comparison site Bonkers reckons we can save nearly €500 on electricity bills alone by switching, never mind gas.
As our survey of electricity prices shows, Yuno is currently top of the table, as the most recent priceslasher.
So is it a no-brainer to switch to Yuno? Not quite.
Yuno does offer the cheapest electricity prices. But you must pay in advance, a feature it sells as meaning you ‘have control’ of your bills.
In reality it means an extra cost, albeit a temporary one until you move to another provider that bills in arrears. Also Yuno may be the cheapest for now… but not by that much. Flogas is only €4 behind with
SSE another €2 below that in third place. What’s interesting here is that this Flogas fixed rate is also available to its existing customers who are out of contract.
In the past, discounted energy deals were mainly for new customers. So when I asked Bonkers to compare electricity rates to Flogas’s standard rate (usually among the dearest) for our table, I didn’t expect see Flogas come second as a switching option.
I asked the company to explain its current policy on switching.
A spokeswoman said: ‘Yes, that Bonkers fixed-rate offer is currently available to existing customers who are out of contract as well as new customers.’
She also confirmed that ‘existing customers on variable rates can switch to a fixed rate’.
So there are more opportunities to switch and save than ever.
With more cuts hopefully on the way, keep reading our
Money pages to find out the best deal for you.
Savings: €498.50 a year 2 . CHOOSE LED LIGHTS
We all know that an LED light bulb uses far less energy than a halogen one.
But did you know that you can now get LED Christmas lights that not only last much longer – they use 10% of the power of normal lights?
Savings: €100 a year
(for replacing all your light bulbs)
3. TURN DOWN THE HEAT
‘Between the cooking, the lit candles, visiting guests, and perhaps even a fire burning, your home may be naturally more warm than it
usually is over Christmas,’ says Daragh Cassidy of Bonkers.
So you probably won’t notice a 1C drop in the thermostat setting.
Yet this minor adjustment can knock a whopping 10% off your gas/heating bill!
Savings: around €150 a year
4. COOK CLEVER
‘When your food is nearly cooked, turn off the rings/oven and use the built-up heat to finish cooking your food,’ advises Mr Cassidy.
Your oven will stay at the exact same temperature for up to five minutes or more.
Also don’t keep opening and closing the oven door to look at the turkey – that’s why there is a glass window.
And if you can’t see through it – clean it!
Savings: €20 a year 5. GET SMART… WITH A TIMER
A timer plug costs a tenner and is a great way to control the time your lights come on and off around the home.
Even better, are Smart devices that remotely control your home’s heating and lighting through any internet-connected device.
‘For example, if you’re out in town getting merry with friends over the festive season and decide to stay on for an extra drink, you can easily set your heating to come on later for you so that you’re not wasting money heating an empty home,’ says Mr Cassidy.
Smart meters have been shown to cut energy bills by 3% – and up to 8% at peak usage.
Savings: €60 a year (3% of average usage)