How Much Can You Really Save By Using Your Appliances More Efficiently?

Image Philip Taylor

There’s nothing worse than getting a letter in the post, knowing it’s your energy bill and that it’s going to be far more than you want.

The problem is that it’s easy to forget that the simple act of flicking on a switch is costing you money. But cost us money it does, with the average annual duel fuel bill, covering gas and electricity, about £1,264 per household.

There are numerous tips and tricks for cutting the cost of your bills, from using a washing up bowl to washing your clothes on a cooler cycle.

But how much can using your appliances more efficiently really save?

What Changing Your Habits Could Save You

Turning off appliances

Forgetting to turn off appliances is a common bad habit that it’s easy to slip into. Aside from the fridge/freezer (obviously), you should make sure that all your appliances are properly switched off when you’re not using them.

How much could you save?

Turning off not-in-use appliances could save you £50-£90 a year.

Use a washing up bowl

Do you ever wash your cutlery under a running hot tap, rather than filling a washing up bowl? As much as this might feel time-saving, it’s costing you money that you don’t need to spend.

How much could you save?

Just by using a washing up bowl, you could save around £30 a year (source: BBC).

Don’t overfill the kettle

Most modern kettles have a handy scale on the side, which shows you how much water you need per cup. However, it’s easy to ignore this and fill the kettle with roughly the right amount of water – a bad habit that costs you money. The more water you boil, the more energy is required, which is wasteful if it’s not all going to be used.

How much could you save?

Only boiling as much water as you need could save you around £7 a year (source: BBC).

Wash your clothes on a cooler cycle

Hot wash cycles are only really necessary for particularly dirty clothes or stubborn stains. The hotter the wash cycle, the more energy required to heat the water, so washing, where possible, at 30 degrees or on a cold cycle will save you money.

How much could you save?

Washing clothes on a 30 degree cycle rather than a 40 degree cycle could save you around £6 a year (source: BBC).

Use the microwave where possible

The electric oven is one of the most expensive appliances in your home, costing around £127.92 to use it for one hour a day for a year. To cut costs, try to cook with the microwave where possible. Foods such as potatoes can be cooked much faster in the microwave and then finished off quickly in the oven.

How much could you save?

Using your microwave instead of your oven four times a week could save around £13 per year off your electricity bill.

What’s the Grand Total?

In total, these simple habit changes could save you up to £146, a significant saving that could come in handy in other areas of life.

Repair Not Replace

You can add to the above savings by carrying out DIY repairs on your appliances, rather than throwing them away. A huge proportion of the appliances thrown out each year could be easily fixed with spare parts, for a fraction of the cost of replacing them.

For example, replacing an oven element yourself will cost you around £81 less than getting the oven professionally repaired.

Don’t feel daunted – many repairs are really easy to carry out yourself, and we’ve created Domestic Appliance Repair Videos to show you how to fix a wide range of problems.

There are lots of easy changes you can make that can dramatically reduce your energy bills. Have you tried any of these tips? How much did you save?

# All of the figures relating to energy saving in this article are estimates and taken from external sources.

By Lee Gilbert