5 ways to reduce your electricity usage

Carbon footprints and reducing our bills are two of the most important factors when it comes to our homes and business.  Reducing the amount of electricity that we use is a big part of both of these.  Below is our top 5 tips to reducing your electricity usage, reducing your carbon footprint and reducing your electricity bill.

1) Change bulbs to LED

LED technology has moved at a great pace over the last few years.  Nowadays most if not all bulb fittings, sizes and shapes are available as LED.  LED bulbs have been proven to reduce electricity consumption dramatically.  A £230 per year saving can be enjoyed using LED bulbs (based on 20 bulbs average).  LED bulbs also last for around 15,000 hours and are more robust than the traditional halogen and filament bulbs.

2) Install Smart Thermostat and devices

Smart Therostats can drastically improve the effiency of your heating by warming different rooms in the house, learning how long is takes to heat your home thus adjusting the temperature accordingly, and sensing when you are away and going into standby.

Smart devices and plugs are an excellent way of managing your electricity usage.  Either by programming set times, or controlling via a Smart Phone, devices and lights can be switched on or off with ease.

3) Turn off devices that are on stand-by

Even if a device is on standy-by, it is still using electricity and could equate to a total household usage of £30 per year.  Either switch off devices that are on stand-by or put them on a smart plug which you can control either through a Smart Phone or a schedule.

4) Buy efficient appliances and electrical equipment

Every appliance in the UK should now have an efficiency tag where it shows the consumer the efficiency rating.  This can really make a difference when it comes to your electricity usage.  For example, a washing machine that is A+++ can use around £65 less electricity in its lifetime than an A+ machine.

When buying new electrical equipment, check the Efficiency rating to make sure you have the most efficient usage.

5) Monitor you usage

Smart Meters and Smart Technologies in general are now widely and affortably available.  Monitor your usage to see which devices are more efficient and more importantly less efficient, this will give you a guide to which devices should be replaced with more efficient ones.