Cooking

• Match the size of the ring to the size of the saucepan or you will be paying to heat the air. Gas flames should only heat the bottom of the pan (not the sides)
• Use a lid on saucepans, so the contents heat more quickly and you use less energy.
• Pressure cookers, steamers and microwaves save energy.

Heating tips

• You can save yourself ?45 a year by replacing a 10 year-old fridge-freezer with a modern, A-rated energy efficient appliance.
• Time your heating to go off 30 minutes before you leave the house, and come on again 30 minutes before you are due to return.
• Turn the room thermostat down by 1°C. This can save around ?30 a year.
• Make sure curtains or furniture are not in front of a radiator.
• Draw the curtains at dusk to keep heat in rooms.
• Letter boxes and key holes can let in draughts. Fit a nylon brush seal or a spring flap and put a cover over a key hole to keep the heat in.
• Insulate your home to save energy and reduce your bills. Insulating your loft can save ?180 a year. You may also be able to get an energy saving grants to help with the cost.
• Turning your central heating thermostat down by just 1?C can save up to 10% on your fuel bills.

Hot water

• Only boil as much water in the kettle as you need.
• In hard water areas, you need to deal with limescale to keep your kettle working efficiently for longer. At least twice a year, soak the element overnight in vinegar
• When washing up or running a bath turn the thermostat on your hot water tank down to 60°c. This is a comfortable temperature for most people.
• An ordinary shower uses just two fifths of the water for a bath. In contrast, power showers use as much water as a bath and sometimes more.

Lighting

• Invest in energy saving light bulbs for your home - they last around 12 times longer than normal bulbs and use 75% less electricity, saving you around ?65 over the lifespan of the bulb.
• Turn lights off when a room is empty. Use natural light as much as possible. If you use a light for an average of four hours or more a day, fit an energy saving light bulb. It will use around a quarter of the electricity and will last ten times longer than an ordinary bulb.

Refrigeration

• Avoid leaving the fridge door open. Avoid putting hot or warm food straight into the fridge; allow it to cool first.
• Defrost your fridge regularly to keep it running efficiently and cheaply. If it seems to frost up quickly, check the door seal. It makes sense to avoid putting your fridge next to an oven or boiler. If possible, keep the freezer in a cool room or garage.

Tumble dryers

• In summer dry your clothes outside when possible.
• If you are drying your clothes indoors, don?t put them over over a radiator. This stops the heat from reaching the rest of the room. Try putting up a clothes rail in an unheated room, opening the window slightly to allow damp escape and shutting the door to stop heat being drawn into that room

Using electrical appliances

• Switch off appliances such as microwaves, TVs, videos, stereos, and computers, as they use energy when they are left on standby. A staggering 85% of the energy used by the DVD player is consumed when it is not actually in use.
• Unplug equipment e.g. mobile phones, shavers and electric toothbrushes?once they are fully charged, otherwise they will keep drawing electricity.

Washing machines & dishwashers

• Only wash full loads or use a half-load or economy programme. Always use a low temperature programme as modern washing powders will be just as effective.
• Modern dishwashers use less energy and water than washing up by hand.

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