Enjoy this Christmas knowing how to save energy

Christmas can be a costly time of year and with extra people in the home and more cooking your energy usage can start to creep up too, never mind all the presents. With high energy prices that are continuing to rise, we have all become a bit more energy conscious. So what can we do at Christmas to stop our bills from creeping up without spoiling the celebrations?

Festive energy saving tips

These are just 10 things you could do to reduce your energy consumption this Christmas period. Many of these energy saving tips could be useful at any time of the year too.

1. Tend to your chimney – this isn’t about getting it ready for Santa! If you don’t use your chimney for fires then you should fit a chimney draught excluder or a chimney balloon to prevent heat from being lost up the chimney.
2. Dial it down – don’t dial down the celebrations, but turn down your thermostat when you have extra people around or when you are cooking as the temperature will soon rise with the additional body heat or heat from cooking.
3. Pile it high – not your plate or the presents under the tree, but the dishwasher and washing machine. It can be tempting to run your appliances on smaller loads to clear them out of the way but it is much more economical to ensure they are at capacity. You should also set them on an eco mode so that you can run them as economically as possible.
4. The lights, the lights are shining – over the festive period we often have additional lights both inside and outside the home to decorate our trees, gardens and houses which all add to our energy consumption. But set them on timers or turn the indoor ones off when you aren’t in the room to enjoy them. You can also make the most of the lights by turning off other lights to create an atmosphere.
5. Shining star – while we are thinking about lights, you should also consider upgrading your lights to high-efficiency LED lights and try solar-powered lights and decorations for the outdoors. If you have any halogen bulbs in your home these could be costing up to 80% more to light the room.
6. Food glorious food! – Christmas is the time for eating and gathering around the table for meals, but all this cooking takes planning. One thing you should think about in your meal preparation is how to best cook everything and what can be cooked together to save you time and money on energy bills. Timing things just right can save you from having your appliances running for additional time or adding in extra appliances unnecessarily like the air fryer or microwave when the oven might suffice for the big meal. Save the air fryer and microwave to warm up the leftovers for later.
7. Don’t get all steamed up – with so many pans on the go, the windows and doors end up open and the kitchen is a sauna one minute and then too cold for Granny the next minute. Dig out your pan lids and get them on the pans to reduce steam and it can use 10% less energy! You should also clean your oven door before the big day so that you don’t need to keep opening it to see how things are cooking.
8. What to do with leftovers – we always cook too much food at Christmas and you can’t waste good food but before you put in it the fridge or package it up for the freezer, first make sure it has cooled down to room temperature. Putting warm food in your fridge or freezer causes the appliance to work harder to maintain the temperature therefore using more energy.
9. Recharge your batteries – not about relaxing (but please do!), this is about being prepared with your batteries ready for the Christmas presents when they are opened. Rather than spending lots of money on disposable batteries, buying rechargeable batteries can reduce the cost to the environment and will save you money in the long run.
10. The gift that can keep on giving – the ultimate way to save money on your energy bills is to generate your own energy, so why not think about gifting your home solar panels so that you reap the benefit for years to come? Investing in solar PV is a great way to reduce household energy bills for up to 30 years. An average three-bedroom house could save over £1,000 per year on their electricity bills, find out more in our blog about the savings you can make from solar PV panels.

Whatever you are doing during the festive season, all of us at the SolarTherm UK team wish you a great time, and if you do want to generate your own energy contact us for a free quote.