How I Saved £600 Off My Gas and Electricity Bill

by Sarah
(Bristol)

We recently moved into a four bed-roomed house and after being in a one bed flat, we were concerned about the additional cost of running a larger house.

We moved into the house in February so it was the tail end of winter. The utility company calculated that we'd owe them about £80 per month based on their experience of the number of people in the house and the typical usage.

This was a massive increase on our smaller flat, so we were conscious of how we used our power. More on that below.

By September, they'd increased our monthly direct debit to £133 based on our consumption over the summer months. Having spoken to our neighbours, we found this was fairly comparable to their bills, so thought nothing of it. Actually ours was a bit lower.

Given the thought of rising gas prices, my husband and I set about making sure we were efficient in the way we used gas. We focused on gas, because it was so much more expensive than electricity and we used much more of it with a gas boiler and cooker.

With winter looming we were concerned about how much our usage was going to increase and given the rising gas prices, my husband and I set about making sure we were careful about our gas usage.

Our last bill, April 2010, showed that our account was in credit and that our direct debit could come down to £76 per month. That's £684 over the year!

Here's a few facts about us and our house:

- We rent, so can't make major changes such as cavity wall insulation.
- The house is 15 years old and has double glazing.
- Our kitchen doesn't have a radiator, so it sucks out all the heat!
- We work from home so there's always someone in the house.

Here's how we did it:

1. Turned the thermostat down to 20 degrees and put on an extra jumper on chilly days.

2. Changed the heating to come on for a few hours in the morning and then in the evening. We did have a policy that if the outside temperature was less than 5 degrees, we would have the heating on constant. Consequently, I loved those freezing cold winter days as we had a toasty house!

3. Used electric fan heaters during the day. We work in one of the bedrooms, so it seemed silly to heat the whole house all day, when we could be nice and cosy with a little heater. Electricity is so much cheaper than gas, so this was a no-brainer. You can easily pick up electric heaters with a thermostat for under £20. Well worth the money!

4. Turned off the radiator in the spare bedroom and kept the door shut. If we had guests, we'd turn it back on in the morning so it would be nice and cosy for them.

5. Insulated all external doors and internal doors on the ground floor with foam draught excluders that stick inside the door frames. Very easy to install.

6. Changed the curtains to some old, heavy curtains that belonged to my mum. The ones supplied in the main living areas were flimsy and ill-fitting.

7. Put up a heavy curtain in front of our draughty front door. This made a huge difference to the temperature of the hall.

8. Bought draught excluders to put at the bottom of the living room door and kitchen door.

9. Sealed up any gaps in the ill-fitting double glazing. You'd be surprised how many holes there were and the draughts that were coming through.

10. Ensured all the air vents in the double-glazing were shut.

11. Kept the doors to rooms closed!

Hopefully it'll continue to keep our bills low. We're now on a mission with the electricity, so we'll let you know if we lower our bill further.