Winter is coming. Save on the Gas and Electric bill with a few tips.

For most of us, gas and electricity prices have nearly doubled compared to last year. That's going to lead to a big shock when the bill comes in if you don't do something!

Save heating (mostly applicable to houses 30+ years old)

• Get rid of gaps around windows and doors. If the curtains move in a storm, there is a draught. Spend a few quid in poundland and get draught excluding foam to seal up all the gaps. You can get strips that stick to doors to seal the edges and bottom too. Only seal doors to the outside.

• If you have a loft/attic, lay out insulation on the floor of it. You can DIY this (use a proper dust mask!) or get a pro in to do it.

• If you get windows with condensation on in the winter, they are poorly insulated. Get window film to cover them.

• Check the heating schedule to make sure it's only warm when you're home. Turn down radiators in rarely used rooms, and up in rooms you care about.

• Turn the temperature down and wear a jumper. Even 1 degree will save you a good chunk of the bill!

Save Electricity

^{Don't bother with this section if you don't have oil/gas/heat-pump heating}.

• Avoid electric heaters. One average plug in electric heater turned on for a year costs £4000 per year! It's far cheaper to use the gas/oil whole house heating. Marketing claims about heaters being 'more efficient' aren't based in science - all electric heaters/radiators have exactly the same efficiency.

• Set computers to turn off screens and go to sleep when not used (don't worry too much about laptops).

• Anything in your house that gets warm is using energy. Use it fewer hours, get a more efficient model, or unplug.

• Check you haven't still got any non-energy-saving bulbs.

• Get a watt-meter and see what around your house uses how much. One watt for one year currently costs ~£2.

• Use eco mode on appliances. It can halve usage. Avoid using tumble driers (or get a Heat pump one - they halve energy usage).

• Switch stuff off when not in use. Before you go to bed, check the electricity meter, and you should see the light flash every 36 seconds or more, indicating you are using under 100 watts. If you're using more than that, then you still have quite a lot of stuff in the house sucking power.

Use the comments section to discuss what else is a good way to save on the bills!

submitted by /u/londons_explorer
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