Savvy savers reveal how you can cut your energy bill by HUNDREDS of pounds this winter
All recommendations within this article are informed by expert editorial opinion. If you click on a link in this story we may earn affiliate revenue.
SAVVY bloggers have revealed how they save hundreds on their energy bills every year by making a few small changes to their routine.
From investing in appliances which use less energy to even using an old dressing gown as a draught excluder, it won't cost you a fortune to keep your home warm anymore if you follow these tips.
The Sun asked bloggers and money savers on social media for their insider tricks on slashing energy bills on the cheap.
The average household spends about £1,249 a year on heating and power, , and bills can shoot up in winter when everyone is using more energy.
Prices are currently on the rise as a result of suppliers being squeezed by rising wholesale costs – the price energy suppliers pay for gas and electricity – and watchdog Ofgem's energy price cap.
But we've worked out that if you follow these tips, you could save up to £651 per year on energy bills if you really restrict how much you put the heating on using these savvy tips.
Lynn James, Mrs Mummy Penny, on investing in a slow cooker and unplugging anything electrical
Lynn James, 41, of Hertfordshire, is the founder of the blog. Her top tips are to:
1. Invest in a slow cooker
I took part in a project where I tested all the appliances in my home to see what uses the most energy.
The induction hob and the oven were particularly energy hungry, using 30p an hour. Using a slow cooker is a huge energy saving, only costing 1p an hour to use.
So if you leave something cooking for 12 hours, it’s going to cost you 12p. .
- SAVE: 29p an hour, or £65 a year if you use it for 12 hours seven times a week
2. Use a heated clothes airer
In the same energy diary project, I also tested the tumble dryer, which is one of the most energy hungry appliances in the house, costing 30p an hour.
A great tip is to invest in a heated clothes airer, which costs less than 5p an hour to run per hour.
Heated clothes airers can be pricey but .
- SAVE: 25p an hour, or £26 a year if you use it twice a week for an hour
3. Unplug electrical items when not in use
A TV uses about 10 watts an hour when on standby. If it is on standby for 18 hours, this is about 65kwh for a year.
The average TV costs 15p a kilowatt which works out at £9.82 per year.
If you add up all the appliances that are left on standby from phones chargers and the PC to the microwave, some experts estimate that leaving appliances on standby costs us an extra £76 per year.
Switch them off at the wall.
- SAVE: £6.30 a month or £76 per year
4. Get a smart meter
The first step to saving energy is to be aware of how much you are using and how much you are spending.
A smart meter, which are free from your energy provider, is going to give you this control and information in real time.
This is going to allow you to monitor certain appliances and potentially change your behaviour to save money.
I had a smart meter installed a year ago and knowing how much it costs to boil a cup of tea or to use the tumble dryer for one hour is incredibly powerful knowledge.
- SAVE: Depends on how you change your behaviour
SPONSORED: How to switch suppliers and save £100s
SWITCHING suppliers is the best way you can cut your energy bills. Here's what you need to do.
1. Switch and save up to £300 - Use a comparison site like MoneySuperMarket.com or EnergyHelpline.com to find the best deals.
2. Get cashback - Before you move onto a new deal check whether you can get cashback via a website like TopCashback or Quidco.
3. Sign up to , get £5 cashback and never worry about switching again - New free-to-use automatic energy switching service moves you on to the cheapest energy deal. It then searches for better ones once you're signed up and moves you onto them automatically. £5 cashback is paid into your bank account within 4 months of completing the switch. Pre-paid meter customers will receive a £5 Amazon voucher. Promotion ends 31/12/18. Open to those 18 and over. UK residents only. Click here for full T&Cs. News UK has a brand partnership with Switchcraft.
Francesca Mason, From Pennies To Pounds, on cheap ways to heat up a room and creatively banishing draughts
Francesca Mason is the woman behind the popular money-saving blog. Her top energy saving tips are as follows:
1. Banish drafts on the cheap - Put an old dressing gown by the front door as a draught excluder. Draughts let in too much cold air and waste too much heat, according to the .
- SAVE: £1.60 a month or £20 a year
2. Use the oven to heat a room - Leave the oven open after using it to heat the room. But make sure children aren't around as they could burn themselves, and remember to switch the oven off first.
- SAVE: Between 9p and 16p an hour, or between £66 and £116 a year if you cut out the heating for two hours every day
3. Use leftover bath water to heat a room - Leave the bath water in to heat the room. But again, don't try this when children are around as they could be scalded by the hot water.
- SAVE: Between 9p and 16p an hour, or between £66 and £116 a year if you cut out the heating for two hours every day
4. Keep radiators uncovered - Make sure curtains aren't hanging over radiators. They will absorb the heat and won't heat up your room properly, which wastes money.
- SAVE: Between 9p and 16p an hour, or between £131 and £232 a year if you put on your heating for four hours everyday
Tom Church, founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, on getting used to the cold and wearing high-tech clothes
Tom Church, 28, of London, is the founder of deals website . The bargain hunter's top energy savings tips are to:
1. Wear HeatTech clothing - Uniqlo sells t-shirts that are hotter than a jumper called HeatTech.
HeatTech threads are hollow. Inside, they trap pockets of warm air created from your body's moisture. It's the same principle as wearing woolly jumpers but in a condensed size.
start at just £9.90 and last for years. You can also get leggings, socks, tights, and camisole tops. You won't need the heating on if you're wearing this.
- SAVE: Between 9p and 16p an hour, or between £131 and £232 a year if you don't put the heating on
2. Make the cold even colder - You can train your body to conserve more heat during the day. But to do it, you have to make it even colder.
Ice baths and cold showers increases norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter. Boost this and it helps vasoconstriction which keeps your body warm.
It's how people acclimatise to cold environments. I have a three-minute cold shower every day and do extended outdoor swims once a month. You'll never need a radiator again.
- SAVE: Between 9p and 16p an hour, or between £131 and £232 a year if you don't put the heating on
3. Coffee logs for the fire - I use coffee logs for the fire at home. These are recycled waste coffee beans mixed with natural wax and are environmentally friendly.
Coffee logs have a huge amount of stored energy making them up to 25 times hotter than wood, and tend to last quite a bit longer than normal (petroleum-based) fire bricks.
You can get them from , and they don't smell of coffee when you light them.
- SAVE: Depends on how much you pay for fire bricks or other logs
More on Money
A new energy price cap is coming into effect at the end of this year and it could save 11million households up to £120 each.
But it won't help everyone so it's still useful to reduce how much energy you are using to cut your bills as firms hike their prices in the run-up to winter.
There's also a way to get free insulation for your home worth thousands, which could also help you cut your bills by up to £440 a year.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Money team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 78 24516. Don't forget to join the for the latest bargains and money-saving advice.