Brits urged to ditch these home habits to save them up to £2k on their bills

With winter comes blustering winds, chilling temperatures and relentless debates on when you should turn the heating on.

As the high cost of living continues to cause a strain on households, many of us are desperate to find creative ways to keep these costs to a minimum.

To help us out, the energy experts at BOXT have done some digging to uncover the heating habits that are costing Brits the most as well as share their top tips on how to save on your energy bills. 

Heating habits costing Brits £2000 a year

In their research, the boiler installation experts have found that heating our unused rooms can cost an average of £1,172.08 each year. 

The team urged Brits to make use of timers ( if they have a modern boiler) so that they can control when they want the heating to come on or off.

BOXT commented: “By utilising this feature, you can save energy and money whilst still being able to come home to a warm house after a long day at work”. 

Drying your clothes using a tumble dryer is also one of the most expensive habits on your energy bills.

BOXT reveals that it can cost an average of £264 a year.

“Buying heated or unheated clothes airers can save you hundreds of pounds a year and hanging your clothes out to dry in warmer months will completely cut the cost of using a tumble dryer,” according to the experts.

Another wasteful habit is falling asleep with the TV on which can cost you £129.10 a year on average.

Incredibly, a TV which is switched on for 10 hours costs the same amount of money as having it on standby for a whole year.

BOXT recommends that you set a sleep timer on your TV if you use your TV to help you fall asleep.

The team adds:”This feature gives you the option to set a timer for hours in advance, allowing you to watch a couple of episodes of your favourite show before bed without feeling guilty”. 

How to save money on your energy bills

Here are five tips that will help you save money on your energy bills according to BOXT:

Hand-wash your dishes

Whilst dishwashers are massive time savers and often do a good job of cleaning your pots and pans, they can cost a hefty sum of money to run regularly.

If you are looking to cut the costs of some of your gas and electric bills then hand washing is a perfect alternative. 

An average 2-hour dishwasher cycle costs around 4.56p to run, meaning that you can save lots of pennies (and probably do a much better job) by using a good old-fashioned bowl and sponge.

Consider filling the kettle with less water

If you are looking for an easy way to save on your energy prices then you could start in the kitchen.

When making a cuppa just for you, there is no need to boil 2 litres of water as it will just be left sitting around in the kettle.

As well as this, it costs almost double the price than it would if you were to fill the kettle halfway. By only using the amount of water you need, you can save time, energy, and money.

Charge Your Phone Before Going To Bed

Although it is much more convenient to charge your phone all night and ensure that you have a full charge for the day ahead, this cost soon adds up.

Instead of charging your phone all night, it would save energy and money to charge it for a couple of hours before bed instead.

If you are worried about your phone losing power during the day, most smartphones have a ‘battery saving mode’ which can prolong your battery life by up to two extra hours.

If you work from home then another alternative to charging your phone at night could be to plug your phone into your laptop whilst you work so that it is getting plenty of charge whilst you are busy with other tasks. 

Switch to LED light bulbs

As well as being better for the environment, LED light bulbs cost less than half the price of non-LED alternatives to run for an hour.

If you are unsure about what type of light bulb you are currently using then you can usually tell by looking at the wattage as LED bulbs are generally 10W or less. 

You could also consider reducing the amount of time you put the lights on by making sure to turn them off before going to bed or leaving the room.

Target your heating costs

It may sound obvious, but if you are looking to cut back on heating costs then you should only put your heating on when you need it.

A lot of modern boilers have the option to set timers so that you can control when you want the heating to come on/off.

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By utilising this feature, you can save energy and money whilst still being able to come home to a warm house after a long day at work.

In addition to this, many people are guilty of heating rooms in their houses that aren’t being used.

Whilst it is much easier to just heat the whole house, this tends to waste a lot of energy and money, especially if you have a house with lots of bedrooms. By only heating the rooms that you need, you will be doing the environment and your bank a favour.