Saving, or conserving, energy not only has positive impacts for the environment but will also save you money by reducing energy bills and can help keep you warmer. Improving the energy performance of your house is just one way of conserving energy. The other main ways are to reduce your fuel bills and make sure you use energy efficiently.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Switch lights off when you aren’t using them or when you leave the room.
- When it’s colder, close your curtains before it gets dark, this will help keep the heat in the room.
- Use your heating programmer so that the heating is only on when you are in the house. Programme your heating to come on half an hour before you wake up, and go off half an hour to an hour before you go to bed.
- Your room thermostat should be set at a comfortable temperature; this is suggested to be between 18-21°C. If you reduce the temperature on your thermostat, within this range, by 1°C you can reduce your energy bills.
- Remember though, that if you are elderly, the living room temperature shouldn't be set below 21°C.
Visit the UK Power website (external website) for more information
Help with fuel poverty
Nest is the Welsh Government’s fuel poverty scheme which aims to help people in Wales reduce the impact of their fuel bills.
Nest offers a range of advice, as well as a full home energy assessment and home improvements for the most energy inefficient homes – at no cost to you.
Nest offers lots of free, impartial help and advice about benefit entitlement, making sure you’re on the right fuel tariff, managing money, and schemes across Wales that offer home improvements.
Visit the Nest website for more information.
The Energy Saving Trust
The Energy Saving Trust (external website) provides free, impartial advice on how you can save money by becoming more energy efficient.
They can also tell you about any grants you could get to improve your home’s energy efficiency.
Related documents
Fuel poverty help guide (PDF, 954KB)