Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
Cost of energy: How Much Does It REALLY Cost To Run Your Home?
Reading Time: 3 minutesCost of energy: With all this talk of energy bills rising, many are wondering if it’s at all possible to lower them. Sure, we all have to use what we need, and pay for it every month, but what about the hidden energy costs incurred without us even knowing about them?
Some of the following stats may shock you, while revealing a way to shave potentially hundreds a year off your outgoings: and without really doing much.
LIGHTING
Ideal Home worked out that when we leave lights on when we sleep, we waste £0.77 for every eight hours’ sleep; £23.42 a month or £281.05 a year. Energy Savings Trust report that by changing your lightbulbs for energy-saving ones, you could save £55 a year. There’s obviously an initial cost for the bulbs, but offset that with the money you’ll save and you can see an immediate saving.
Confused About Energy have this great guide to which bulbs use up how much energy and money.
BOILERS
If you have a combi-boiler, they’re usually kept at a default setting of 80C, but they function just as well – and save money of course – on a lower setting, so check what level yours is at.
FRIDGES
Your fridge-freezer costs almost £100 a year, so you can make it more energy-efficient by making sure it’s filled at least by three quarters: that can save you £15 a year over only having a few items in there.
cost of energy on STANDBY MODE
Do you have a heated towel rail in the bathroom, or electrical items on standby in hour kitchen? The average cost to run an average towel rail heater for 24 hours costs £0.23 per 24 hour day.
MoneySupermarket worked out recently that the cost to run the following items in standby per year (that’s as well as their daily use) is:
Digital TV box – £36.91
Multi-room speakers (in idle mode) – £27.52
Router – £7.51
Microwave (left on) – £4.53
Digital clock (left on) – £2.56
TV (on standby) – £1.72
Coffee maker (left on) – £1.68
Phone charger (plugged in, not charging) – £0.37
All of those items left unused in standby mode? A staggering £82.80 a year! So just by switching those items off when you’re not using them could save you that extra financial burden.
STREAMING SERVICES
Have a check to see what streaming services you’re currently signed up to: Disney+? Amazon Prime? Netflix?
If you have those three alone, that’s £26.97 a month, or £323.64 a year. Do you really need them all?
Check your bank statements to see what you are really spending on these services per month, and if you’re getting your money’s worth. Some of them have bolt-on services like BritBox, which cost even more.
Do you subscribe to any music services like Apple or Amazon? Again, a few quid here and there and you’re spending more money a year than you can probably remember.
WATER
If you are single or live in a smaller property or don’t use much water, you could make savings by having a water meter fitted, which measures how much water you use so that your supplier can take more accurate bill readings. You could save money if there are fewer people than bedrooms in your house: a water meter in this case could save you around £200 a year.
Quite an eye-opener, some of these. Look around your own home and see where things can be switched off, switched over or retired altogether. It may seem like pennies but as you can see, it does mount up and while the cost of energy is so high, you stand to save hundreds a year, which let’s face it, in these times is not to be sniffed at.
Additional reading and hacks.
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Reduce your cost of energy bill with this hack.
These costs are useful to know but what are they based on? Prices for energy as at today, next month, next year (as forecast)? dailymail co uk had a similar article and that wasnt clear either.
I am nearly 62. I made ALL those cutbacks years ago. I have nowhere to turn now.