Our best tips and advice for helping to cut down on your energy bills.
Whilst we see our other bills continue to rise, energy prices have finally begun moving in the opposite direction with costs starting to go down this month; But how can you make the most of this?
Despite energy bills falling to their lowest in two years, prices remain far above pre-pandemic levels. Experts continue to urge people to take up valuable energy-saving habits as a means of saving money in the light of rising bills elsewhere.
So how can you capitalise on these dropping bills and save money to spend elsewhere?
How are my bills changing?
As of April, many of your everyday bills will have again gone up, a result of the rising cost of living, inflation and the wider geo-political landscape; A continuing trend we’ve seen for over two years now.
So what’s the good news then?
Well in contrast to all this bad news, we’re seeing energy bills fall to their lowest levels since 2022. A new price cap took effect at the start of April, cutting a typical bill by around ￡20 a month. This new cap limits the price suppliers can charge for energy per unit, not your total energy bill however, so to benefit from this price drop as much as possible, adopting new energy-saving techniques could be incredibly important.
What does this mean for me?
For the time being, we can expect to see a slight drop in our monthly electric bills, which is great news for all of us. However, cost of living charities say we should continue to lower our energy consumption as much as possible as forecasts from energy consultancy Cornwall Insight predict we’ll see bills begin to rise again by the end of the year.
How to keep my energy costs down??
Citizens Advice Manchester recommend, by making a few easy, energy-saving, changes to your everyday life, you could cut your energy bill by over ￡300 a year. These changes include reducing draughts, limiting your time in the shower and switching to more energy-efficient lighting!
Most people have no idea just how much their old lightbulbs could be costing them. On average, your lighting alone can make up 15% of your household electricity consumption, so reducing the amount of energy your bulbs use can make a huge difference. Just by making the switch from traditional light bulbs to energy-efficient LEDs, an average house could save over ￡125 on their energy bills every year!
Not only can making the switch to energy-efficient bulbs help to cut down your bills, but they’ll also help reduce your carbon dioxide emissions, making your home more affordable and more environmentally friendly, all without having to sacrifice the quality of the light in your house.
How else can changes to your lighting help reduce the cost of your electricity bill? Well, there are plenty of quick, simple changes you can make to save money. By simply turning off your lights when you don’t need them, you can dramatically reduce your energy costs, but we all know how easy it can be to forget to do this. Investing in a sensor or timer for your lights is a great way of making sure your lights are only on when you need them, without even having to think about it.
Energy-efficient lightbulbs aren’t the only environmentally friendly change you can make to your house that will also help to reduce your monthly energy bill. Wind and solar-powered products can all make a surprising difference, reducing your dependency on energy companies and making you less vulnerable to sudden price changes.
By making some of these simple changes to your home in the next few months, not only will you help to lower your house's carbon footprint but you can also help to greatly reduce your electricity bills, freeing up money to help you manage rising bills elsewhere.
Excited to dive into your blog post! Your insights on navigating the cost of living crisis are always invaluable.