Deciding to reduce your energy consumption seems like an obvious thing to do for the climate crisis. Not only will it reduce the percentage of greenhouse gases being emitted to the atmosphere, but will also save you money. Fossil fuels account for over 75% of greenhouse gas emissions. Installing a smart meter is definitely something to consider as you can track the gas and electric usage in energy or monetary units (£). It also means that you do not need to supply a meter reading because the figure is connected to your energy supplier.
There are so many different places in your house that you can reduce your energy consumption.
General ways to reduce your energy consumption
- Switch to LED bulbs
- Air dry your clothes – hang outside in a sunny day or put on a clothes horse inside.
- Wash your clothes at a lower temperature
- Start using appliances in off-peak time periods – this will save you money because the national grid is under a lot of pressure during peak times and charges more
- Turn the heating down – wear more clothes if you’re cold
- Don’t leave anything on standby
- Turn off the lights when you leave the room
In the kitchen
- Turn off switches on the wall and unplug appliances
- Only boil the amount of water that you need
- If you need to use the oven more than once, try to cook things at the same time. E.g. bake a cake at the same time as dinner.
- Try not to keep opening the oven door because it lets the hot air out
- Allow food to cool before putting it in the freezer as it will require more energy to make it cool down
- If you need to defrost something, put it in the fridge the night before or morning of use. This eliminates the use of the microwave, and the fridge uses less energy from the coldness of the frozen food.
- Cover pots and pans with lids while cooking to keep the heat in
- Fully load the dishwasher/washing machine before washing
- Batch cook
- Use the correct-sized pan for the hob
- Wash up in a bowl instead of running water
In the bathroom
- Switch baths for showers
- Install a water-saving showerhead
- Install a dual-flush toilet
- Air-dry your hair
- Limit your shower length – I measure how long I shower based on how many songs my playlist gets through!
- Fix any drips
- Use cold water where possible
Outside
- Check your tyre pressure regularly – flat tires require more fuel
- If you aren’t using your car roof rack, take it off – requires more fuel
- Try and drive at the right gear for the speed you are driving
- Print as little as possible – when booking tickets, get the e-ticket version
- Print double-sided
- Use public transport, walk or cycle. If you have to drive, try and carpool.
Do you have any other ideas on how to reduce your energy consumption?
Caroline ♡
Really great tips – I do almost all of them. Some are harder to do than others. I think people also constantly need a reminder of basic things like not leaving the water on when brushing or leaving the light on when you leave the room or recycling or reusing things. 😊
So true, thank you for commenting and reading <3 x
I love this! I’m always looking for new ways to save energy and help the environment. I think it’s easy to forget the simple things that make a great impact!
Alisha | http://www.insidethevoyage.co.uk
Thank you! Yeah, I totally agree 🙂 xx
Fab tips – I’ll definitely be taking notes from this post! My recent electricity bill was higher than normal, so this will be really helpful to me (and the planet), thanks for sharing! x
I’m glad, thank you for reading and commenting x
Saving energy is very important especially when we have insufficient power to serve every person on the planet. When you save power, you help more people access power. Thanks for sharing this article.
That’s so true, we don’t need all the energy! Thank you for reading and commenting 🙂
Good tips! Taking care of the environment is something super important. Thank you for sharing your tips.
Thank you 🙂
These are some great suggestions. I do a lot of these already, more as we are trying to save as much money as possible. However I definitely think there is always room for improvement and will certainly continue to make more changes to save energy.
I’m glad to hear! x
Great tips! I am terrible for printing things off. It’s a bad habit I need to stop. I am always so frightened of forgetting something so I will print it off! Haha, I am always telling my partner about overfilling the kettle. I am going to show him this!!
Thanks for sharing, Helen x
My laptop refuses to connect to any printers and I’m way too lazy to email to someone else to print off so that one is ok for me aha. Thank you for reading and commenting 🙂
Definitely going to be incorporating some of this into my routine!
https://www.emilyclareskinner.com
That’s great 🙂
These are all great tips! I try my best to save energy where I can.. sadly norway doesn’t have the little on and off switches by the wall plugs, I miss that about living in England since it really helped with not using too much electricity x
Aw no, that’s annoying :/ x
So many good tips! I love the one about using veg water for plants…would never have thought of that!
Thanks for sharing…deffo keeping this list handy and making some changes.
Aimsy xoxo
Aimsy’s Antics
It’s one of my fave tips too 🙂 Thank you for reading and commenting x
Thanks for these wonderful suggestions to conserve energy! Great post!
xoxo
Lovely
http://www.mynameislovely.com
Thank you <3 x
I love these suggestions. I swear by number 9, unfortunately, my partner is constantly cold, and always wants the heating on, so I encourage him to wear layers before switching it on. I liked going down this list and checking off in my head which ones I already do. I don’t have a car or a garden, so those don’t apply, and I struggle with number 25, but we are trying vegetarian substitutes. Thank you for sharing these suggestions, as they are always useful to have on hand. 😊
I’m guilty of that too sometimes! I’m glad to hear that you’re trying veggie substitutes – let me know what you think 🙂 Thank you for reading and leaving a lovely comment x
These are some really easy tips that a lot of people could follow 🙂 thanks for sharing!
Thank you 🙂 xx
I needed this. I’m quite the lazy type and I don’t really like wasting my energy so I’m definitely practicing this tips.
Thanks for sharing.
That’s great, thank you! 🙂 x
Here in South Africa, we’re kind of forced to save electricity seeing as it’s gotten so expensive, so I do everything I can to save it. Also, you have mentioned great tips here 🙂
All the best, Michelle (michellesclutterbox.com)
Ah, that’s good, I wish the UK would do something like that to motivate people to save! xx
Thanks so much for these super useful tips, we really can make simple changes and create positive results! Amy at amymarshment.com xx
Totally agree x Thank you for reading <3
These are some really great tips! I have been really trying to buy things second-hand, which I expect will be easier when the pandemic is more under control in my area. I have also been using re-usable grocery bags at the store and skipping the individual plastic bags for produce, which really add up. Thanks for sharing!
I get you, I loved going into charity shops and having a browse which we can’t do at the moment. They are great changes you’ve been making <3 xx
I loved this! Definitely trying to be more environmental friendly lately and I needed tips like this! Love this list, thank you so much for sharing it x
No problem! Thank you so much for reading 🙂 x
I love this! and you know what – I believe a lot of the time we just need to get rid of our old habits!
Hayley || hayleyxmartin
So true <3 x
These are some great suggestions for saving energy, which means saving money and the planet. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you 🙂
Great tips! It just goes to show that such small changes can make a huge difference. Thank you for sharing! x
So true 🙂 x
These are all great tips! Even the smallest change can make a huge impact on the planet! Definitely still need to make some of these a habit, thank you for sharing x
Thanks <3