Energy bills are a hot topic at the moment. Despite the leading energy providers confirming their record profits recently in the multiple millions, prices of our energy bills are sky-high, and many are struggling through this winter. Turning down the heating, or turning it off altogether, hoping for warmer weather so that we can try to save a few pounds. 

It is a miserable situation to have to decide whether to heat your home or not purely because it is so expensive. Of course, try putting on a jumper before reaching to turn up the thermostat, but what if you are already wearing 3 jumpers, a coat, a blanket and even a hot water bottle? When the temperature outside falls below freezing, our homes feel cold too, so you either put on every piece of warm clothing that you own and layer up, or you will have to put the heating on. 

Because so many of us are trying to be a little more careful and conscious of our energy consumption and monthly bills, the Government have released a campaign that they've called "helpforhouseholds". 

In this campaign, there are many tips and tricks to try and reduce energy usage and, subsequently, the monthly energy bill.

Here are the key points from the campaign:

• Turning down the boiler flow temperature on your combi boiler to 60°C could save you up to £100 per year.

• Turning down the temperature on your radiator valves could save you up to £70 per year.

• Turning sockets off after using them could save you £70 per year.

• Don't leave things on standby when they are not in use. 

• Use your washing machine at 30°C rather than the usual 40°C. It is said that cleaning power is not reduced, but it could save you up to £40 per year.

• Reduce the use of your tumble dryer; opt for drying washing outside as the weather begins to warm up instead. 

• If you use your tumble dryer, use it on a full load when the dry is three-quarters full. This is often more than a full load from a washing machine. 

• Take showers instead of baths as this uses less water and less energy to heat the water. 

• Only boil the volume of water you need - we tend to fill a kettle each time we use it, but only use a small amount of the water.

• Close all blinds, shutters and curtains on an evening to additionally insulate your windows which are the colder areas of our homes.

The full article can be viewed here

Please share if you have any fantastic energy-saving tips.