How to Reduce Your Gas and Electricity Costs

Maintaining a home can often prove to be a costly business. Gas and electricity prices in the UK often change readily but there are numerous measures you can take to ensure that you don't end up out of pocket. To help you along the way, here is a handy guide detailing a few tips to reduce your bills.

The first thing to do is to make sure that your gas and electricity suppliers are indeed the right company to be with. Ofgem estimate that simply by comparing gas and electricity tariffs it is possible to reduce bills by up to £150. Now while this may seem like a potentially time-consuming task, using a price comparison site can take a lot of the hassle out of looking up quotes for gas and electricity companies.

The next step would be to check if your home is optimised to ensure minimum gas usage. Insulation is a great way to cut costs. The Energy Saving Trust says you can save around £120 on yearly gas bills with the correct insulation. Of course, another great way to save money is to simply turn down the temperature! By lowering the thermostat by just one degree Celsius, you can reduce gas costs by around 10 per cent. You probably won't even notice the difference! Using energy saving light bulbs is a great way to cut down on your electricity bills saving you even more money and the environment.

Little things that don't seem like they could help often make a world of difference. Make sure you completely switch appliances off and don't just leave them on standby, don't leave the heating on whilst out, and even closing your curtains during sunset can trap heat thus enabling you to ease off the radiators.

The kind of domestic appliances that you use within your home will also make a big difference on your bills. Gas hobs on a cooker for example, will add up to 15 per cent on your gas bills. Fridges and freezers account for 18 per cent of the average electricity consumption, so choosing the right fridge is extremely important when it comes to saving money. By choosing energy saving appliances when making new purchases you could again reduce the amount of money spent on gas and electricity bills per month.

Lastly it is worth noting that insuring your boiler can be very handy in the event of a breakdown or malfunction. Emergency repairs can cost up to £76 an hour! Most gas providers will offer insurance, so it's definitely worth checking out.