I’m tight with money – how I save £220 a year on my energy bill with simple tricks
IF there's way to save money then self-confessed money saving addict Trevor Branton has tried it.
But like everyone else the 48-year-old, who lives in Devon with his wife Natasha, is concerned about rising bills - and has been looking for more ways to save money.
Trevor, who already has solar panels on his home and drives an electric vehicle to save money, took on a money saving challenge over 12 weeks - and managed to find £56 of savings.
And if he carries on with the easy changes he's made, he could save himself £220 a year on energy bills.
He told The Sun: "I'm a financial adviser and a tight arse. If there's a way I can save money I'll do it. But it turns out there were a a few extra things I wasn't doing already."
The savings from simple steps come as millions of Brits face rising bills, paying on average nearly £700 more a year for gas and electric after the price cap rises in April.
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Trevor's efforts to lower his gas usage were prompted by his supplier, Octopus Energy, and just go to show how small savings can quickly add up - even when you think you're doing all you can.
His biggest savings came from turning his boiler temperature down and installing smart radiator valves.
He said: "Buying smart radiator valves was estimated to reduce my energy consumption by 25%, but it actually worked out as 35%.
"The reality is it's still going to be more expensive for me to heat my house, but not as expensive as it would have been if I hadn't taken these measures."
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How you adjust the temperature of your boiler will depend on the type you have, but it's recommended you keep it above 60 degrees Celsius to avoid legionnaire's disease.
Trevor now uses valves on radiators throughout his 4-bed detached home.
They can be used to control the heating and temperature in each separate room.
Smart radiator valves
He said: "With our new valves, we can time the heating to be on just when we are in the kitchen between four and six o'clock cooking, and eating and then the lounge from six o'clock till 10 or 11 o'clock.
"Only heating the rooms that we were actually occupying made such an impact."
Although he has had to pay for the valves, which you can control with an app on your phone, Trevor has worked out that they will pay for themselves in the first year of use.
Trevor, who also has two grown up kids who visit often, said the devices were easy to fit and required no plumbing.
You can just unscrew the existing temperature valve and replace it with the smart one.
Once you have it set up, you can even create schedules for your home according to who will be in each room at each time, and Trevor can do voice commands via Alexa to turn them on and off at any time.
But you may need a smart home hub to control them if you don't have one already, depending on which ones you go for.
a smart valve will set you back between £35 and £80, depending on which brand you go for.
You can also get wi-fi radiator valves, which are not as "smart" and don't need a sperate hub or thermostat.
They can't turn the heating on and off, but can be used to control the temperature remotely with and app.
"If somebody likes the idea, but can't afford it all, they could probably buy a couple for the rooms that they're constantly in and it would make a difference," he added.
Tackling draughts
Trevor, who monitors his energy usage with a smart meter and uses a spreadsheet to track consumption, says he used 120 units in January, compared to 196 last year and 169 in the same month in 2020 and 274 the year before that.
"Over the last four years, 120 is the lowest I've ever used and January was hardly sizzling weather," he said.
"My smart meter display is a really, really good thing just to let you understand your consumption.
Another one of the easy tips that helped Trevor reduce his bill was about taking care of draughts.
These mean you lose heat from inside the house while cold air can get it in, and means you end keeping the heating on for longer or at a higher temperature.
"I've got an open fire in the lounge that isn't used and so I just put a piece of squashed foam in it to stop draughts appearing," Trevor said.
He also started using the curtain across the front door "just to give that extra little bit of insulation to stop draughts" which previously the family had been lax about using.
Drawing the curtains as the sun goes down was another super simple tip suggested in the Octopus energy challenge that contributed to savings, he said.
Doing this at the right time can keep more heat in as there's an extra layer and can trap draughts.
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"The tips were effortless," said Trevor of the energy saving challenge, for which he earned credit on top of the savings, but donated this to help others who struggle to pay their energy bills.
"It's the little things of being energy conscious. I knew a lot about these already. But the winter workout certainly brought them back to the top of our minds again - and they have really made a difference."
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