HOW TO SAVE ENERGY
BUY ENERGY-EFFICIENT APPLIANCES Buy white goods and appliances with a good energy-efficiency score — and use them the right way too. For example, only fill your kettle with the amount of water that you need to boil. Use your microwave, rather than the oven, to reheat food (the oven is one of the most expensive appliances in the home to run). If at all possible, avoid using your tumble dryer to dry clothes as this appliance is a heavy energy user. Buying an induction hob, rather than a solid plate or standard electric hob, should cut down on the electricity bills you run up while cooking.
MOVE TO LED BULBS Switching a single 42-watt halogen lightbulb to an energy efficient 9-watt LED will save you about €7 a year in energy bills, according to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).
Do that for every halogen light bulb which you have in your house and you could save €70 or more a year, depending on how many lights you have at home. LEDs are often not much more expensive to buy than halogen bulbs — but they will save you in the long-run. Furthermore, halogen bulbs typically dim over time and fail after about two years — while LEDs last up to 10 times longer, according to SEAI. And buy LED lights for your Christmas tree instead of traditional fairy lights as this should save you a few bob on energy bills.
GET A SMART THERMOSTAT Smart thermostats, such as Nest or Hive, should help you save money on heating bills. These gadgets learn your habits and adjust the temperature of your home to suit those habits.
They allow you to adjust the temperature of your home remotely (such as from your smartphone) — handy if you are delayed getting home from work on a given day or if you forget to turn the heating off when you’re away. “Smart thermostats allow you to heat different parts of your home at different times of the day,” said Eoin Clarke of switcher.ie. “This is useful if you have a big house as you can set your thermostat to heat the bedrooms in the evening only.” Installation of smart devices could cost you anything from €200 to €400, according to Clarke. “However, many suppliers offer these devices as part of a deal,” said Clarke.
For example, under SSE Airtricity’s 1-year Electricity Smart Home Bundle deal, the supplier is offering a 10pc electricity discount, a free Climote remote heating control and two free Amazon Echo devices. Know exactly what your smart thermostat will do before buying one or signing up to a supplier’s deal though as not all devices are the same — and some are more limited than others.
TURN DOWN YOUR HEATING You could be wasting hundreds of euro a year by overheating your home. Check what temperature the heating is set to in your home — and ask yourself if you need your heating set that high. “Turning your thermostat down by 1 degree will knock 10pc off your energy bills,” said Clarke.
MAKE YOUR HOME ENERGY-EFFICIENT Should you have the money to upgrade your home, consider investing in good solar panels, insulation and a new boiler (if you’re existing boiler is old). Condensing boilers are considered some of the most efficient oil and gas boilers.