MANY households are looking for money-saving hacks to cut costs on sky-high energy bills.
Luckily, there are simple tricks you can use to reduce costs and they don't have to cost the earth.
Energy bills froze at £2,500 for two years under the energy price guarantee from Saturday, October 1.
Although some customers think that £2,500 is the absolute maximum that you can be charged on their bill – that is not the case.
This is simply a representation of the average household's bill, not a fixed upper limit, and the cap is on the amount that energy suppliers can charge for the unit price and standing charge per unit of energy.
With that in mind, many bill payers want to know cheap energy hacks to help lower bills as we move into the winter period.
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Some of these hacks cost just 70p, and you can pick up supplies from your local supermarket.
We've listed a few below.
Tinfoil behind the radiator
Putting radiator foil – or tin foil if you're on a tight budget – behind your radiator could save on your energy bills every time you whack the heating on.
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It works by reflecting the hot air coming from the back of your radiator back into the room, instead of your radiator blowing hot air at the wall.
This means that you won't that it won't be wasting energy – and adding money onto your bill.
Simply put sellotape on the corner of the foil and pop it behind your radiator.
And you don't have to fork out much to complete the tip either – at Wilko a roll of tin foil costs only 70p – and will work just as effectively.
Bleed your radiators
TikToker Kyle Mattison AKA ThatPropertyGuy revealed neglecting to bleed your radiators could force them to work harder, and it means you could end up wasting energy heating nothing.
They might develop cold spots, where air gets trapped inside.
He said: "Releasing the trapped air in radiators helps them run more efficiently, and the good thing about this is it keeps your house warmer."
You can use a small valve key – like this one from Screwfix – which normally cost under £2 from any hardware store.
All you need to do twist the radiator key slowly anti-clockwise on the square valve you'll find on the side.
Draught excluders
To save the most money, you want to stop cold air coming in and prevent warm air from escaping.
DIY draught-proofing starts at just over £3 for a roll of self-adhesive draught-excluding tape though.
You can use it to block up unwanted gaps around windows, doors and chimneys that let cold air in and warm air out.
You can also buy cheap draft excluders that do the same job for gaps under doors.
We've also rounded up the best ones you can buy here to help keep your home warm without the extra-pricey heating bills.
Switch to LED lights
One bill payer saved £40 a month on energy by using all LEDs.
Taking to the Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK Facebook group, she wrote: "I know people are worried about rising costs but don’t waste your money on battery powered lights.
"Please go to a pound shop and buy LED lightbulbs. We got them for £1 each so ok initial outlay but we changed every bulb and it saved £35 to £40 a month. So paid for itself in the first month.
"When you think that lights can account for 15 per cent of your energy costs it’s worth changing your bulbs."
The post quickly notched up more than 1,000 likes and nearly 400 comments as other Facebook users shared their thoughts on the idea.
Boil only what you need
A cup of tea is morning must-have for millions of people, but if you're using your kettle wrong, you could be boiling up your energy bills.
Overfilling the kettle and leaving it on standby are two ways you might be wasting cash.
The more water there is in your kettle, the harder it has to work to get it to boiling point. And that's a waste of energy if you're only making one cuppa.
To avoid this common mistake, get your mug, fill it with water and pour that into your kettle – this way you are only heating up the water you're wanting to use.
Meanwhile, according to Utilita, leaving a kettle switched on at the wall adds around a fiver to your annual energy bill.
Insulate pipes
You can pop foam tubes over pipes in rooms you don't want to heat up – such as the attic or basement – as well as external pipes.
You can just use a long swimming float if you're not sure – or call your local DIY store to ask if they have any.
You can buy these for as little as £2.99 from Amazon – just watch out for any delivery costs.
More bill help
If you turn your thermostat down by one notch, it can help lower your bills by a whopping £80 a year.
And keeping it at a steady temperature will save even more.
You should also make sure you turn household appliances off and not leave them on standby as doing this could needlessly add as much as £35 onto your bill.
We spoke to a savvy saver who slashed a huge £180 off her energy bill by simply switching off plug sockets.
But if measures in your own home aren't enough, there's still time to apply for government schemes that are designed to help you foot rising energy costs.
Here's a few schemes run by energy suppliers you could be entitled to:
- British Gas Energy Trust
- Bulb energy fund
- EDF's energy customer support fund
- E.on's energy fund
- Npower's energy fund
- Ovo's debt and energy assistance
- Scottish Power's hardship fund
There's also a one-off fuel voucher from your energy supplier if you're on a prepayment metre.
All UK households are also set to receive the £400 energy bills rebate this month.
The payment will be made up of six discounts between now and March next year.
Households will receive a £66 energy bill discount this month and November and a discount worth £67 in December, January, February and March.
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If you want to be extra cautious, read our roundup here of the kitchen appliances that add hundreds to your energy bill.
You can also read a full list of bill help you could be eligible for now the energy price guarantee has hit.
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