Big Energy Savings Week is here, running from 18 to 24 January as part of the Big Energy Saving Winter campaign that kicked off in November 2020. This is the eighth national campaign to help people cut their energy bills and get the financial support they’re entitled to, run by Citizens Advice, the Energy Saving Trust and the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy with the support of numerous organisations, charities and companies.
Making our homes and businesses more energy-efficient can make a big difference. Simple changes to our daily activities can help to save energy, cut costs and most importantly, help to protect the environment. So, there’s no time like the present to change our habits and be more efficient with our energy usage, particularly as many people have increased energy usage as a result of working from home.
How much could you save and how?
According to Ofgem, the industry regulator, the average household spends around £1,254 a year on heating and power, making energy one of the biggest annual costs for UK families. However, 9.7 million households have not made changes to their energy usage at home and 20% of people delay switching energy suppliers, even though it could save up to £300 a year. Reducing your energy usage isn’t just a good investment for the environment – it’s also a great way to keep your budget in check.
See how much you could save in our infographic.
Here are 10 things you can do to quickly cut your home bills and save energy:
- Turn off the lights when leaving a room
- Use LED lights
- Switch to efficient appliances
- Unplug devices
- Reduce water usage
- Keep the thermostat at a lower temperature
- Use smart automated devices
- Wash clothes at a cooler temperature
- Make sure that dishwashers and washing machines are full before you use them
- Bleed your radiators regularly
Switching Energy Suppliers
The Citizens Advice energy price comparison tool is a great place to start to see if you can save money by switching energy supplier. It’s free and totally independent, comparing energy suppliers and also provides a customer service rating for the major energy companies.
Accessing Benefits and Grants
If you live in the UK, you can check to see if you’re eligible for the Green Homes Grant scheme and see what improvements can be made to your home, worth up to £5,000. The grant is only available in England – alternative sources of help available for energy saving home improvements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can be found at Home Energy Scotland, the Nest scheme in Wales and
contacting NI Energy Advice to find out more about energy efficiency grants, such as the Affordable Warmth Scheme.
Alcumus – Healthy Planet, People and Business
As part of our vision to create better workplaces and keep people safe, we want to have a positive impact, for everyone, in everything we do. One of the ways we do that is through our focus on environmentally friendly projects as part of our Sustainability Programme. To care for our environment, we had a number of initiatives in 2020 to help reduce waste and become more energy efficient, which saw us switch to hybrid company cars, electric charging points at our Cardiff office and plant over 500 trees. We’re just weeks away from installing solar panels at our Cardiff office and have more activities underway.
In 2021, our Environmental goals are focused on reducing our carbon footprint, reducing levels of waste from all our offices, increasing our use of renewable and recycled materials, reducing the amount of paper and water we use and improving biodiversity. We’re also certified to the ISO 14001 standard, which means we can show our commitment to environmental issues and minimising the impact we have.
