Martin Lewis often highlights simple changes you can make at home to save on energy bills
Martin Lewis champions a home efficiency checklist to help households across the nation in reducing usage and keeping heating bills as low as possible over the winter. The consumer expert points out key areas where energy usage could be reduced.
He previously told ITV viewers: “There are so many things you can do to make your home energy efficient, I’ve got a checklist here and you will know some of them, but this is really just about making sure that you’re doing it.”
The founder of MoneySavingExpert.com then listed simple steps such as installing a free water-saving shower head, the benefits of lowering the thermostat by just one degree, using your curtains ‘strategically’, ensuring your fridge is operating at the correct temperature and the straightforward boiler adjustment that most people are aware of to save anywhere between £100 and £200 – reducing your water flow temperature.
Free water-saving devices
Martin detailed how there are 900,000 freebies on the Save Water Save Money website aimed at helping households reduce costs. All you need to do is visit the website, enter your postcode and it will display all the available free items you can order, reports the Daily Record.
Freebies on offer include:
- Shower heads which pump air to help reduce water usage, shower timers
- Toilet flushing bag which cuts down on water used per flush
- An easy-to-fit kitchen tap swivel attachment with an inbuilt 8 litre per minute flow regulator with two spray patterns and soft grip
- Simple and effective silicone sink plug for your bathroom basin or kitchen sink
- Martin explained how simply fitting the shower head could save households £50 each year on your heating bill, if you’re having lots of showers.
Boiler challenge which could save £100 each year
Martin’s most significant potential money-saver is the Boiler challenge, which he encouraged viewers to attempt during a previous show.
He emphasised that the MoneySaving Boiler Challenge isn’t connected to MoneySavingExpert.com, but is operated by a charity called Nesta.
Their website reveals that hundreds of thousands of people have now completed the challenge and are cutting costs, purely by modifying their flow temperature.
Martin detailed how this challenge requires reducing the flow temperature on your combi boiler to 60 degrees.
It’s important to note this is straightforward to accomplish on a combi boiler and requires nothing more than adjusting some controls on the front of the device.
For alternative boilers, you might need to consult professional assistance.
Martin clarified: “You’d normally want it to be around 60 degrees, but most people’s boilers are set higher – that’s really inefficient as it’s not just using that it’s using more heat, it’s inefficient.
“You can turn this down, it won’t affect the heat of your house, it’ll still be the same temperature, it won’t affect your hot water temperature – it might take slightly longer to get up to the maximum temperature, but it can cut £100 a year off your bill and is well worth everyone doing.”
He continued: “This is an absolute no-brainer, everyone with a combi boiler should be trying this one.”
Martin’s one-degree thermostat challenge
The money-saving expert encouraged families to embrace his one-degree challenge, which means lowering their heating thermostat by just one degree – potentially slashing 10% off yearly energy costs.
Martin revealed: “The World Health Organisation says 18 degrees is fine for healthy adults – younger, older or ill, you might need more.”
Martin added: “It’s not for me to tell you what to do, but I’d like you to try reducing one degree – say you’re at 21 degrees, try reducing to 20 degrees.
“That could save you around 10% on your heating bill.”
Martin also recommended people avoid immediately cranking the thermostat up when the house feels chilly, suggesting instead to set it normally and allow it to reach the target temperature before deciding whether to increase it.
Deploy strategic curtains
Despite its name, this doesn’t require purchasing specialist curtains – it’s about being cleverer with your existing ones.
Martin revealed: ‘When the sun is shining, it’s letting light and heat into the house, so you want the curtains open. When it gets dark, it’s not, you want to keep the heat in, so close the curtains.
“I know we all know that, but actually doing it rigorously can help insulate especially if you line it with a fleece and there are lots of tips online on how to do that really cheaply – do it yourself.”
Inspect your fridge Martin also encouraged everyone to verify the temperature settings on their fridge and freezer.
He stated: “Five degrees is what your fridge needs to be set to, minus 18 for your freezer. If it’s colder, you’re wasting too much money.”