With the cost of living crisis and energy bills at an all-time high, our expert team is dedicated to providing advice and support for households in or at risk of fuel poverty, with the aim of helping them reduce their energy usage and save money.
In this blog, we’ll provide some top tips for reducing energy usage and highlight appliances that are cheaper to run, as well as ones to avoid:
Top 3 tips for reducing energy usage
1) Switch off unused appliances
A quick and easy way to save money is to switch off your appliances when they aren’t in use. Leaving your TV on standby is a great example, as your TV will continue to draw power even when it’s not in use. Another example are chargers for things like laptops and mobile phones as they can also draw power if not switched off at the plug.
The same goes for turning lights off when you leave a room. The money you save soon adds up.
2) Use appliances wisely
A good way to save money is to make sure your appliances are working efficiently. Things like, avoiding setting the refrigerator too cold, and making sure it’s not placed near a heat source, which will force it to work harder.
Or washing clothes in cold water and air-drying them instead of using a tumble dryer to save energy. You can even reduce cooking time by keeping lids on pots and batch cooking meals to maximise oven use.
3) Consider energy-efficient machines
When the time comes to replace your appliances, look for a machine with an excellent energy efficiency rating, for ultimate long term cost savings. You could also consider purchasing a second-hand or refurbished model that is energy-efficient.
Avoid using most expensive appliances to run
We’ve used Go Compare’s energy cost calculator using power consumption figures from CSE (The Centre for Sustainability Energy) to check which are the most expensive appliances to run.
To keep it consistent and give you an idea on cost, we’ve based this on leaving appliances on for 24 hours (although hopefully you wouldn’t use that all in one go!):
An electric shower is the most expensive appliance to run, costing £61.82 over 24 hours. A kettle is the most expensive kitchen appliance at £20.61, which is the same as running an immersion heater.
Following closely behind, electric heaters and tumble dryers were identified as both costing £17.17 to run, while electric oven and washing machines incurred a cost of £14.42.
Electric hobs and hairdryers ranked marginally lower in cost, both requiring £13.74 for operation.
Cheaper appliances to run
Perhaps a pleasant surprise, as most people tend to leave their broadband routers on, they only cost £0.07 over a 24 hour period.
Similarly, mobile phone chargers were fairly economical, costing £0.14 for the same duration. However, as we mentioned earlier, it is always best to turn off appliances while they are not in use.
You can check out the energy cost calculator to compare your own appliances here.
Find out more about how we’re helping households stay safe and warm.
