Tips to assist with the rising cost of living

If you’re worried about the increasing cost of living this springtime, you are not alone.

We appreciate how recent changes in energy prices and the general cost of living will affect the lives of those across the UK and, as home service experts, we've compiled a list of the best ways to cut energy usage (and costs!) around your home.

4 areas  you could be saving money

Fridge Freezers – Our fridge freezers are an appliance that is a necessity to always be turned on, without a constant supply of power they will cease to cool our food properly, risking the growth of bacteria which could make us ill.

So, how can we ensure our fridge freezers are using as little energy as possible when turned on; here are a few of our expert tips.

• Let food cool before putting in the fridge. Our fridge freezers work by maintaining a core temperature – if you place a warm item of food into your appliance, it will have to work harder to maintain the set temperature.
    
• Shut the door. Never leave the fridge/ freezer door open unnecessarily for the same reason as stated above – it will only make your fridge work harder to keep cool if warm air is circulating inside the appliance.
   
• Defrost regularly. Set aside a day every few months where you defrost the appliance completely to ensure neither your fridge or freezer need to work harder than they have to.

Ovens – Our ovens are an integral part of the home, putting big family meals on the table for any occasion. However, our home services experts have found they are particularly inefficient when it comes to energy. This is because you have to heat up a big metal box as well as your food.

Below we have listed a few helpful hacks to prevent too much energy from being used when cooking.

• Cook in bulk. Cooking in bulk means you will be getting the most out of the energy used when the oven is powered up. Extra portions can then be saved and reheated when needed.
  
  
• Utilise residual heat. Turning the oven off 10 – 15 minutes prior to your cooking time ending and letting the residual heat continue to cook your food is a great way to trim down the energy your oven uses.
  
  

Microwaves – As we have stated above, ovens consume a lot of energy – and with the rising energy prices microwaves are a great alternative. If for example, we compare the KilowattsHour it would take to cook a jacket potato in the microwave instead of the oven, it would look something like this.

• Cooking one baked potato in the oven = 6.07kWh
  
  
• Cooking one baked potato in the microwave (10 minutes) = 0.14 kWh
  
  
•  Cooking one baked potato part microwave (5 minutes) part oven (45 minutes including warm-up time)= 2.34kWh

Evidently, some meals can be cooked at a much lower energy outage purely by changing the appliance you use. Although the microwave is efficient energy-wise – don’t forget that slow cookers are the equivalent in energy and have the capacity to cook big meals, unlike a microwave.

Kettles – We use our kettles every day (often more than once!), and thankfully if you are heating the right amount of water – it can be very energy efficient to use an electric kettle.

To boil water one cup of tea in the electric kettle is 0.07 Kilowatt, whereas boiling water for one cup of tea in a pan on a standard electric hob is 0.18kW.

It is, therefore, cheaper to boil water for vegetables and pasta in a kettle before transferring to the hob – it is much more energy-efficient as the kettle is heated from the inside out, whereas a hob needs to heat the outside of the pan to raise the temperature of the water inside the pan.

We're here to help

We appreciate that times are hard, which is why we're dedicated to offering home services and repairs at affordable prices, as well as 1 years' FREE membership with every repair, which offers savings and discounts as well as priority service.

With energy prices soaring, there has never been a better time to ensure your home and appliances are serviced and well maintained to avoid your energy bills being pricier than anticipated for no reason. Get in contact with us today to find out more on 0333 733 1234.