Ten Ways to Save Energy

Switching from economy 7 to single rate is the easiest thing to do infact. Its instantanious and in a lot of cases could save you money. Basically if you dont have storage heaters and an electronic boiler that heats overnight, consider switching.

Here are a few more things: Cavity wall insulation Close doors after you. Turn the radiators down in little-used rooms, and keep the door closed. Wear a jumper! Spin-drying is better than tumble-drying. Drying on an airer costs nothing. You don't really need to wash every outer garment after one wearing - hang and air a jumper for 24 hours if it isn't marked, press trousers. You don't need all the lights on to watch television.

Hi folks I too am on Economy 7 metering night time (1200 - 0700) electricity at a lower rate. I calculated the savings to potentially switch to a days only tariff with Atlantic Electric and Gas but because I have a large fridge and a similar sized freezer, some outdoor lighting and the odd timeswitch running at night, the difference worked out at 1p per year saving!! - not even worth the telephone call to ask for a change! But everyone is different so work it out for yourselves, it is easy but calculate it on the last 12 months consumption to avoid short term errors. As to compact fluorescent lightbulbs, they are really a no brainer not to change. Energy savings in use are 80% and they have a life of at least 8 times ordinary bulbs and with sexy spiral and candle designs available these days even the design gurus are taking note!. As to their carbon footprint during manufacture and disposal, well they have already been made and the savings throughout their lifetime will greatly outweigh any CO2 emitted in other areas. Also, at around £2 or less from leading supermarkets they are a steal!! Go for it big time!! You can even get dimming versions these days so there is realy no excuse! AdAstra100's comment about the local heating effect of a GLS bulb is efficient - well, yes, but only if you already only use electricity to heat your house!. If you use gas then ANY form of additional electrical heating is expensive! The next generation of energy saving saving lighting is Light Emitting Diodes, or LED's. If you can live with the higher price at the moment and slightly lower light levels then their benefits of energy consumption of around 1 or 2 Watt instead of 35 or 50 Watt for halogen spots for instance is magic!! Also, they last around 30,000 hours and emit next to no heat so fit and forget!! They have their downsides as they can't yet be easily or cheaply dimmed but watch the latest press! Thermostatic radiator valves need instruction in their use! They are NOT merely ON/OFF valves but should be set to suit the temperature requirements of the area they control. So setting at say no. 3 should be tried and if too cold then increase to 4 etc. (or vice versa). Do NOT turn up fully then when the room is too hot, open the window!!!!! Alison, on freezers, you forgot to mention that frezers should alsways be kept as full as possible - some people have been known to fill the voids with rolled up newspaper to avoid losing 'cold' air when they are opened. Turning to the more exotic, purchasing and using an 'Electrisave' meter (you can get these for around £50 now) will make even the most ardent energy saver even more paranoid! These devices are wireless and sensors clip onto the electrical incomer leads to the house (non-contact so perfectly safe!) and transmit the electicity use to a small display unit wherever you are in the house, quite a talking point on the mantlepiece! - you can even carry it around with you! It will give you an instant readout of exactly what you house is consuming and can be used to identify 'rogue' users - say you have inadvertantly left the heater on while you were working in the garage! More importantly it can show the kids the effect of turning things off in both kWh and cost!! It should pay for itself in a year!! Another little snippet is to set your home computer to 'hibernate' when not used for a period. This actually turns OFF the CPU and stores any unsaved data to a separate part of your hard drive returning to your original place when you 'waken' it again. Easy to set up, just go to 'Control panel', 'Power Options', 'Hibernate' and set it and forget it! Better than merly a screen saver as it saves all the computer's energy use, not just the monitor! Happy energy saving!!

> 6) As we all know, heat rises, so... NOOOoooooo! Hot air rises because it is less dense than surrounding cooler air. Heat can be conducted, radiated, or force-convected in any direction. As we all, erm, know... :-)

We used to be on Economy 7: we invested in some timer plug things and set the dishwasher and washing machine to come on at 6am - late enough not to drive us insane with the noise and early enough that it could finish the cycle on the cheap rate. Definitely worth doing - it saved us a lot.
As for freezers - my tip is to take empty plastic drinks bottles and fill them with water, then use these to fill up empty spaces in your freezer. They freeze (d'oh!) and keep your freezer cold and full. You can just take them out if you need the space PLUS if your water goes off for any reason you've got an emergency water supply PLUS if your electricity goes off they help to keep the food in the freezer colder longer.

What is your advice when my gas central heating is switched off in the summer and I still use gas for my hot water. Would I make a saving by using the immersion heater which is fitted to my hot water cylinder?