Moving into off- campus housing as a student means dealing with energy bills. We at Letpads would like to help you with some tips on how to cut cost down.
You may be aware through the social media and the national news, that the energy prices for Gas and Electricity have significantly increased over the last 12 months. This has placed increased financial pressure to all concerned, in particular to the energy providers, homeowners, landlords and tenants.
November has hit and it is definitely getting lot colder now, and the nights are dawning in too. We automatically start spending more time inside, when we start spending more time at home we start using more energy, by watching more TV, cooking more often, putting lights on earlier and many more.
The following are general tips to avoid wasting energy which will help reduce your energy costs for Gas and Electricity-
- Keep windows and doors closed to avoid draughts
- Set heating and hot at the necessary times when you are at home
- Use washing machines and dryers on full load as permitted
- Don’t leave appliances on standby or laptops and mobile phones on charge unnecessarily
- Always turn lights off – especially when you leave a room
- If you are using a kettle, only boil the water you need.
- Try and dry your clothes outside during nice weather.
- Turn taps off properly, in a single week, a dripping hot tap can waste enough hot water to fill half a bath.
- At night, especially in the winter or when it’s cold, closing your curtains can help retain the heat.
- Use energy saving blubs, they last up o 10 times longer than ordinary blubs. Using one of these could help you save around £45 over the lifetime of a blub.
- Have a shower than a bath. A bath can use as much as 80 litres of water, taking a shower can save almost two thirds of water that is needed to fill a bath.
- Don’t leave the tap running when brushing teeth, washing or shaving. Put the plug in and only use as much water as you need.
- Avoid using a tumble dryer- dry clothes on a clothes rail in a well-ventilated room or hang outside on a washing line. Electric tumble dryers are the second biggest energy user in the home after fridges.
- Try and bulk cook for the week this could help with saving the energy.
- Use a blanket or a scarf round your neck to keep you warm. You don’t actually need the heating blaring on full heat.