Coping with rising gas and electricity prices is a big concern for many people
at winter. So, in this video we're going to take a look at some of the simple ways
you can reduce your energy costs and save you some money.
Most energy suppliers will offer you a small discount of 2-3% on each bill
if you choose to get them online as opposed to receiving them in the post
So, as well as being good for the environment it's also good for your pocket!
Online billing is also simple. Your bills are archived, you can see
invaluable information on your energy consumption and usage habits and you can
enter meter readings easily online, and speaking of which...
Some electricity bills are only estimated, meaning you could be charged for electricity
that you haven't used. It should be easy to tell whether or not you've received an
estimated bill as there'll be a big 'E' beside the meter reading. The estimates
are by no means 100% accurate though and you could be paying a lot more than
you should have paid, particularly if you haven't been home for a period of time
or you've used less electricity than you normally would - and if there's one time
of the year when you don't want to have to pay for electricity that you haven't
used, it's winter! Providing a meter reading to your supplier is easy, you can
do it online or over the phone and some providers will send you a reminder text
so that you can do it just before your bill is about to issued. Providing meter
readings means you're only ever paying for what you use each month.
If you think you can use around 30-35% of your electricity at night as opposed to
during the day, then getting a nightsaver meter installed is another way to reduce
your energy costs. With the nightsaver meter. you'll pay a little bit
more for your electricity during the day and you'll have a slightly higher annual
standing charge, however you receive a huge discount on night-time electricity.
During winter time, the night-time rate runs from 11:00pm until 8:00am
So, if you think you can shift a fair chunk of your electricity
usage to these times, you could make some savings. A few easy ways to shift some
electricity usage overnight is to get plug timers for your dishwasher,
washing machine and dryer, and make sure that your immersion is
well-insulated and set to heat water overnight. Just those items should shift
enough of your usage to the cheap rate to make it worthwhile. In order to reduce
your electricity and energy costs you should also look at ways to reduce your
energy consumption. This needn't be a big deal or a lot of hassle as there's lots of
simple things you can do around the home to use less electricity and save you
money. Not overfilling the kettle when you boil it, choosing cooler washes for
your clothes, getting a lagging jacket for your boiler and buying
energy-efficient LED light bulbs are just some of the simple things that you can do.
Installing a smart thermostat in the home is also a good way of reducing
your heating costs. A smart thermostat is a device which allows you to control
your heating from outside the home on your phone or laptop. So, for
example, if you're stuck in traffic on the way home and your heating is set
come on at 6 o'clock, you can easily change it to 7 o'clock or maybe 8 o'clock
at the touch of a button, meaning you'll never heat an empty home again.
Retrofitting your home to bring it up to modern day energy efficiency
standards could also save you a huge amount on your electricity and heating
costs in the medium to long term. Investing in wall and roof insulation,
solar panels and heat pumps are some of the things that you can do to retrofit
your home. The good news is that there are both grants and loans out there to
help with the financial burden of these kinds of investments. And then finally
you should look at switching supplier. Switching supplier is one of the
quickest and easiest ways you can save on your gas and electricity bills and
can save you hundreds in seconds. It's really, really quick and easy to switch
and it can all be done online in the space of a few moments. Just head over to
bonkers.ie to start the switch or give us a call. So, thanks for watching guys.
We hope you find an information of use. If you have any questions feel free to
comment below or get in touch with us over on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
And while you're here feel free to watch some more videos. Thanks for watching!