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Whether you have just moved in a recently purchased home or you have been resident for many years, you should always be looking for ways to cut your bills. Energy saving is a good thing to keep in mind, especially if you are struggling with home maintenance and lease costs. Besides switching your supplier, which often has little to no effect on your actual energy bills, you can take several more effective steps:

• Insulation – one of the very first things you should look into is insulating your home. Experts calculate that nearly one-third of the cost for heating your home gets lost through the walls. Therefore, isolating the area seems like the best course of action and an excellent way to save energy. According to some, cavity wall insulation can potentially save you up to £150 each year. As for the loft area and insulating it, the figure is even higher – up to £180 a year.
• Insulation for your hot water tank – speaking of insulation, you should consider an insulation jacket for your hot water tank. This can save you £45 every year.
• Change your boiler – your boiler is responsible for roughly 60% of your energy bill throughout the year. It definitely makes sense to upgrade to a more efficient model. When you choose an A-rated energy efficiency boiler, you are looking at £300 reduction per year.
• Fix dripping hot taps – a single dripping hot water tap can waste so much hot water as to fill your bathtub halfway. You best fix the leaking taps right away and ensure they are always turned off.
• Turn down the temperature – did you know that when you turn down your thermostat by a single degree, you can essentially cut 10% off your heating bills, allowing you to save nearly £100/year? By implementing some heating control, you can essentially net huge savings and keep your home at a comfortable temperature at all times.
• Switch to energy saving light bulbs – energy-saving light bulbs have now become standard for most homes. If you haven’t replaced all of the bulbs in your house with such, you should definitely do so now. Just a single energy-saving bulb can save you up to £50 over its lifetime, not to mention it lasts much more than ordinary bulbs.
• Make use of an electricity monitor – if you wish to see your energy consumption in real time, you can use an electricity monitor. The main benefit of knowing the figures is that you can then make a better decision on how to make your home more energy efficient. It is a simple enough gadget to install on your own, so you should definitely consider it.
• Avoid standby mode – if you often leave your appliances on standby, you pay about £35/year. According to research, leaving a single laptop on a charge, even after its battery is at 100% costs about £3.

As you can see, there are a lot of ways to reduce your energy bill. It is up to you to implement them to become a better homeowner.

At Open Estates, we have even more useful tips on real estate and home ownership. Be sure to check with us online or contact us at 01923 537 111

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