10 ways to save on energy bills

Using your heating and appliances more efficiently will make a big difference to your energy costs. Follow our 10 tips to use less and pay less, while making your home more comfortable.

If you're on a variable tariff that's set by the energy price cap, you may find you can make some long term savings by choosing a fixed tariff.  While cheaper options are limited amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, there are still fixed tariffs available that are cheaper than variable rates.

Head to our guide to how to get the best energy deal to see the latest available cheapest tariffs and how to choose the best option for you.

But no matter your energy tariff, the steps you take to be more efficient can still make a difference.

That's because it's your energy unit rates – how much you pay for each kilowatt hour (kWh) of gas or electricity you use – that are fixed or capped, rather than your total bill. So the less energy you use, the less you'll pay.

Small habitual changes add up, especially as energy costs continue to rise. And some of the tips below take just a few minutes to set up.

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1. Use your appliances efficiently

Washer dryers are the priciest appliances to run, costing over £210 on average per year, according to our testing.

Condenser tumble dryers and American-style fridge freezers are also costly to use, both adding at least £115 per year in electricity on average to our bills.

Changing how you use them will make a positive difference to your energy payments. Try these tips:

• Wash your clothes at a lower temperature Doing your laundry at 30ºC (rather than 40ºC) cuts the cost by 38%, according to our tests. Wash bigger loads less often.
• Run your dishwasher only when it's full and stacked so that every item gets well cleaned (see our guide on how to load your dishwasher).
• Use eco settings on any of your appliances that have them.
• Dry laundry outside when the weather permits, rather than using a tumble dryer. Avoid tumble-drying single garments.
• Wait for food to cool before freezing and defrost frozen food in the fridge.
• Keep appliances clean Regularly descaling your kettle, defrosting your freezer (unless it's a frost-free model), cleaning your tumble dryer's lint filter and cleaning the coils and vent at the back of your fridge helps these appliances run as efficiently as possible.

Find out how much your appliances cost to run.

2. Find cheaper ways to stay cool

Hot, humid days might leave you dreaming of home air conditioning. But it's expensive to buy and uses lots of electricity.

Some air conditioners can use the same amount of energy in one hour that a fridge uses in a day. 

So, before you splash out, try these:

• Use an electric fan well - put it at the same height or lower than you and point the unit up to blow cooler air up to you.
• Close your windows, blinds and curtains when the air is warmer outside than in. Open them all when the sun has gone down to let hot air out and cool air in.
• Take cool showers (not cold) and let yourself air dry.
• Wear thin, loose and cotton-based clothes at night.

Read more: tips for how to keep cool without air conditioning, or see our expert guide to air conditioners vs electric fans

3. Add insulation wherever you can

Improving your insulation will have the most impact on your bills of any of our tips. 

It keeps your home warmer in winter and cooler in summer.

Adding insulation can cost as little as £15 (that's for DIY fitting foam insulation around exposed hot water pipes). The more you add, the more you'll save. 

Loft insulation is the cheapest and easiest way to boost your home's insulation credentials. If you have none and add the recommended 270mm, you could save up to £230 per year in a semi-detached house. Plus you'll feel cosier too.

Once that's done, consider cavity wall insulation if your home is suitable. It's pricey – around £2,700 for a semi-detached house, according to the Energy Saving Trust – but a third of your heat is lost through your walls. For older homes, you'll need solid wall insulation instead.

Read our full loft insulation, cavity wall insulation and solid wall insulation guides to learn what you need, how much it costs and what you could save.

Find out more about how to insulate your home. 

4. Check if you could save money by switching energy supplier 

More than half of households are paying price-capped variable rates for their gas and electricity. If you're among them, it's worth trying to switch to a fixed price tariff to protect yourself from predicted future price increases. 

Global gas prices are volatile owing to ongoing conflict in the Middle East. But there are tariffs available that could save you money in the long term.

Head to our guide to how to get the best energy deal for tips on what to look out for and our latest switching advice.

You can also use our free energy price comparison tool to see available gas and electricity tariffs. Keep in mind that prices on Ofgem's price-capped tariff will change every three months.

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Without switching, there are still things you can do to save:

• Choose paperless bills and manage your account online. Some companies charge customers for paper billing.
• Pay by direct debit. It's usually cheaper and gives you the biggest choice of fixed deals. Prepayment price-capped tariffs are cheaper than direct debit ones at the moment, but there is very little choice of prepaid fixed deals.
• Send your supplier regular meter readings, if you don't have a smart meter that does this. Regular meter readings keep your payments accurate and prevent estimated bills.
• Question any direct debit increases you don't agree with. Ask your supplier to explain why you need to pay more. Over a year, your usage and payments should balance out.
• Ask for a refund of any excess credit in your account. Or ask for your direct debit to be reduced while you use it up. We'd recommend you keep around two to three months' worth of payments in your account.

Read more: energy tariffs explained. 

5. Service your boiler and use your heating controls efficiently

Your home can cost more to heat over winter if your boiler isn't running efficiently or if you're not making best use of your system.

Start by booking a boiler service and asking your engineer to make sure it's running as efficiently as possible. 

Make the most of your appointment with our guide on how to get the best out of your boiler service. 

Replacing a very old and inefficient boiler can considerably improve your home's efficiency, but as they are so expensive to buy, we wouldn't recommend replacing a boiler until you need to.

Next, try these tips:

• Use your boiler timer or programmer so you only heat your home and water when you need it. 
• Fit a smart thermostat if you'd like to operate your heating remotely via your mobile phone, tablet or computer. Some can also learn your routine or adjust your settings depending on the weather conditions.
• Install thermostatic radiator valves or smart radiator valves to lower temperatures for parts of your home you use infrequently.  
• Clean your radiator system. Cold spots at the bottom of radiators or them taking a long time to heat up can mean your system is sludgy. 
• Check your radiators are balanced to avoid overheating some rooms and leaving other rooms cold.
• Turn down the flow temperature of your combi boiler. Condensing combi boilers often had heating flow temperatures set higher than needed to warm your home. You might want to consult a boiler engineer or Nesta has created an interactive boiler temperature tool to walk combi boiler owners through changing your heating's flow temperature settings.

See more top tips to reduce your heating bills.

6. Use less hot water

You use energy year-round to heat your water. So using hot water wisely will impact your bills.

If you have a hot water tank (rather than a combi boiler), use your heating controls to turn your water heating on and off, so you only heat as much water as you'll need.

Then try these tips to cut your hot water use:

• Fit an eco shower head. High-volume power showers can use more water in less than five minutes than running a bath. Your shower will still feel powerful with an eco shower head.
• Swap one bath a week for a four minute shower. This can save a typical household £10 a year on energy, according to the Energy Saving Trust. 
• Avoid washing up under a free-running tap. Wash up in the sink or a bowl instead. Also try not to leave the hot tap running for too long while you're rinsing items.
• Fit an aerator onto your kitchen tap to limit the amount of hot water coming out. It could save you £20 a year.

These tips will also save you money on your water bill, if you have a meter.

7. Improve your draughtproofing

Stopping heat from escaping through gaps around doors and windows could save you around £35 a year, according to the Energy Saving Trust, and make you feel more cosy at lower temperatures.

Professional draughtproofing of your whole house costs around £250, but there are plenty of DIY draughtproofing jobs.

Many of these tips can be used even if you're a tenant in a rental home. 

Start with these areas:

• Windows Use draughtproofing strips around the frame. Brush strips work better for sash windows.
• Doors Use draughtproofing strips around the edges and brush or hinged-flap draught excluders at the bottom.
• Chimney and fireplace If you don't use your fireplace, block the chimney with an inflatable pillow or fit a cap over the chimney pot. If you have an open chimney, this could save you £60 a year.
• Floorboards and skirting Floorboards need to move, so if you are filling gaps make sure you use a flexible silicone-based filler. For a quicker fix, laying rugs over draughty floorboards will make an immediate difference.
• Loft hatches Use draughtproofing foam strips to keep heat in.

Just remember that you do need some ventilation in your home, so don't cover up holes that are supposed to be there, such as trickle vents in window frames or extractor fans.

Already repaired large draughty areas? See our guide to draughtproofing for tips on draughts from keyholes and letterboxes.

8. Make the most of smart meters and smart tech

Some energy companies' customer apps give detailed information about your energy use, particular if you have smart meters. There are third-party apps which do this too.

A smart meter shows you how much energy you’re using and how much it costs, in close to real-time. You can use this to work out where and when you can cut back on how much you use.

Apps such as the Energy Cost Calculator tell you exactly how much energy your products use. Enter the energy consumption of an appliance in kWh (look on its packaging or online spec), how many hours you use it and how much your electricity costs per kWh. The app gives a cost per usage by day, month or year, plus its CO2 emissions.

Look out for events run by suppliers where customers can earn rewards or bill credit for changing their power use compared to normal. You'll usually need to sign up or opt into these using an app. Find out more about Saving Sessions, PowerUp and other time of use options.

9. Make your next appliances energy efficient models

Buying a very cheap appliance can be a false economy if it ends up costing a fortune to run. 

Choosing energy-efficient appliances can save you hundreds of pounds each year in running costs compared with the most power-guzzling products. 

Running costs are listed in our appliance reviews. We test energy consumption in a way that reflects how you actually use appliances. 

For example we test washing machines on the 40°C cottons program because that's most commonly used by Which? members (rather than the 60°C cottons program which makes up 60% of EU Energy Label tests).

Then we use the results of our energy tests to calculate how much each appliance will cost you to run. We update this every time the price of electricity and gas change. 

Read more about how much your appliances cost to run to see which use the most energy and get tips on how to minimise your spend.

10. Check your eligibility for energy efficiency grants or extra benefits

Energy schemes and grants can help pay your energy bills or support you with the costs of renewable heating. These include:

• Warm Home Discount £150, mainly to those who get certain benefits in Great Britain.
• Winter Fuel Payment £100-£300 per winter for those born before 23 September 1959, who live in England or Wales and have a taxable income of £35,000 or less.
• Boiler Upgrade scheme Up to £7,500 to replace your current gas or oil heating with low-carbon heating.
• Warm Homes Plan low or zero-interest loans to install low-carbon technology, including solar panels, heat pumps and storage batteries. Houesholds earning less than £36,000 per year can apply to their local council to install appropriate energy upgrades for free.