With the UK expected to spend a record £42.8bn this Christmas[1] and World Energy Conservation Day taking place on Wednesday 14thDecember, OFTEC, which represents the domestic oil heating industry in the UK and Ireland, has issued its top tips to help homeowners conserve energy and save money on their energy bills.
Furthermore, Northern Ireland was recently named the most generous nation in the UK, spending £158 on their partners and 67% of their monthly income on Christmas.[2]
To help with costs this Christmas, OFTEC has reiterated the following money-saving and energy conserving tips:
- Turn your thermostat down – Try and keep the room at 19°C. Lowering your thermostat by just 1ºC will knock 10% off your heating bill.*
- Service your boiler – If your oil boiler hasn’t been serviced recently, then you could be wasting money. By servicing your boiler, you could improve your overall efficiency by 10% – saving you up to £125 per year.*
- Turning off standby – Switching off those appliances that often sit on standby at the mains, such as computer screens and TVs, householders can save up to 20% of your appliances’ energy use.*
- Switch to energy saving light bulbs – Consider switching to compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) as they use a fraction of the electricity an ordinary light bulb would use and last up to 10 times longer.*
- Be water efficient – By taking a shower instead of a bath, you’ll use a lot less hot water.
Additional measures homeowners can take to ensure even greater long-term cost savings include:
- Consider switching to a condensing boiler – Typically operating at around 18% more efficiency, homeowners could potentially save hundreds of pounds a year.
- Fit heating controls – Simple control measures including a 7 day programmer with room and cylinder thermostats and a motorised control allow you to have separate hot water and space heating.
- Insulate your home and fit draught stripping across doors – Injecting foam into the cavity in your wall and fitting draught stripping across doors can significantly reduce heat loss and save money.
David Blevings, Ireland Manager of OFTEC commented: “World Energy Conservation Day is all about highlighting ways that homeowners can become more energy smart. The tips we have issued are simple changes that homeowners can make to increase energy conservation and reduce their energy bills which is vital in the run up to Christmas. We have also outlined additional measures homeowners can also take which do require initial investment but these can provide even greater savings in the long term.”
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