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Always turn off lights when leaving a room. |
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Use energy saving light bulbs. |
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Turning your thermostat down by 1°C could cut your heating bills by up to 10% and save you around £40 per year. |
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A dripping hot water tap wastes energy and in one week wastes enough hot water to fill half a bath, so fix leaking taps and always make sure they’re fully turned off. |
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Draw the curtains at night to keep the heat in (especially if you do not have double glazing). |
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Don’t use your dishwasher / tumble dryer / washing machine unnecessarily. These are some of the most energy intensive devices in your home. Make sure you don’t use them when they are practically empty. |
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Don’t leave chargers (e.g. for mobile phones) plug in when nothing is attached to them as they will still be using electricity. |
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Turn off your computer and monitor when not in use. |
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If you’re not filling up the washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher, use the half-load or economy programme. |
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Having showers instead of baths uses for less energy. |
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Seal up any drafts in doors and windows using draft excluders etc. For small drafts use draft excluding tape, available from all DIY stores. |
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Use the kettle to boil water for cooking, instead of heating a pan on the stove. Not only will this be more efficient, but it generally takes less time too! |
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Switch all electrical appliances off at the plug. Instead of using the ‘standby’ function. Whilst on stand by the appliances are still using electricity, and amazingly this accounts for up to 6% of all electricity usage in the house! |
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Only boil as much water as you need (but always remember to cover the elements if you are using an electric kettle).
"If everyone boiled only the water they needed to make a cup of tea instead of `filling` the kettle every time, we could save enough electricity to run practically all the street lighting in the U.K." |
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After having a bath in winter, don’t pull the plug on the hot water until it has cooled down (and thus heated your house). It may look dirty, but you’ve just used a lot of energy to heat up that water. There’s no point letting it and your money go down the drain! |
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Insulate your home - install cavity wall and loft insulation and lag your pipes |
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Use solar powered lights and ornaments in your garden |
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When watering your garden, use a watering can instead of a hose pipe. If you do use a hosepipe then don`t leave it running unnecessarliy and fit a trigger nozzle at the end. |
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Water plants early in the morning or in the evening as they absorb moisture better at these times |
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Is your water too hot? You shouldn’t need to set your cylinder thermostat higher than 60°C (140°F). |
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Drive sensibly. Aggressive driving wastes (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking etc.) gasoline. |
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Air dry dishes instead of using your dishwashers drying cycle. |
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Garden Ponds can lose up to 2.5cm of water on a hot summer`s day through evaporation and so it`s worth considering partial shading for ponds and water features. |
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Remove excess weight in your car, simple declutter tricks improve your car’s efficiency by up to 10%. |
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Place heat reflectors behind radiators which are attached to outside walls, especially on older houses with little or no insulation. It is possible to buy special radiator foil for this, alternatively use tin foil (shiny side facing the radiator). |
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