Cut your utilities bills

Take these simple steps at home to cut your utilities bills…

• Energy usage – get a smart meter to track your energy consumption with real time information. They send automatic meter readings to suppliers (so you only pay for what you use instead of getting estimated bills) and display usage in pounds and pence (to help you identify where you can cut back)
• Warmth without waste – almost half of your energy bill comes from heating and hot water usage. Turn your heating down by 1degree if it is comfortable to do so – maintaining a steady 18degree is better than turning the up and down
• Hot water – needs to be hot but never scalding. For most people the cylinder thermostat set at 60˚c is fine for bathing and washing.
• Stand by – avoid leaving devices like TVs and games consoles on standby and don’t charge mobile phones unnecessarily
• Bright idea – always turn off lights when not required and open curtains or blinds as wide as possible during the day to let as much daylight in as possible.
• Shut out the cold – close curtains at dusk to stop heat leaking through windows, tuck curtains behind radiators and use draught excluders on doors
• Keep it clean – fill your washing machine, tumble drier or dishwasher as one full load uses less energy that two half loads, wash clothes at a lower temperature and if you wash up in the sink try a washing up bowl
• Just the cuppa – only heat the amount of water you really need in the kettle
• Water way – more than a quarter of water used in the home is in the shower – try taking shorter showers by only staying in there for the time it takes to sing your favourite song
• Big purchases – when buying a new appliance, if you can afford it, choose one with a high energy-efficiency rating

believe housing is working towards making customers’ homes warmer and more energy efficient – reducing energy costs and reducing our impact on the environment as part of our green pledge.

We actively seek external funding and schemes that could help believe housing or our customers to update properties, and regularly work with other organisations to do this.

If you feel your home is cold, are struggling with the bills or want to reduce your home’s carbon footprint talk to us.