September Competition Time: It's back to school for some! Maybe an OVO Live event for you? (CLOSED)

Along with solar panels with batteries the greenest implement in your house is a saucepan lid!

Unplug all appliances or turn off at the wall. Especially TV’s and gaming consoles. 

Are we at Blackpool Illuminations ?? No, so please do turn the lights off…. (Remember this as a youngster) well now we know why when we are the billpayers permission.

When you have a shower, hang your washed shirts up in the bathroom, you wont need to use an iron!

If you have an air fryer use it wherever possible, quicker cooking and lower energy!

Don’t substitute your whole-house heating for small heating items (like electric plug-in heaters) – these don’t effectively heat your home and are very expensive to run.

Don't have children!

As a person who has children - can verify they’re high energy users and expensive! 

Drop your boiler water temp by a few degrees, you'll probably not notice the difference but your pocket will.

And as we say up North, "turn big light off"

Turn lights off when your not in the room or the hallway, when it gets dark pull your curtains to keep heat in. Dont leave things on standby  - yes, its not taking much power but it is taking power and the more gadgets on standby the more power you are paying for each day.

Use the OVO Energy App to see where your energy goes and turn off all your electrical vampire devices.

I practice one pot cooking twice a week but will increase to more days as I learn more recipes. Also use air fryer instead of oven. 

Having a table lamp on a timer in the hall may be fine when you’re away (for security reasons) but when you’re around you can flick a hall light on and off when you need it.

Don't fill your kettle or saucepan with more water than you need - more water takes longer to boil and more energy to heat

When using a kettle only boil the correct amount of water.

When cooking veg pre boil the water in a kettle first.

Use a steamer to cook the veg.

Don't heat your bedroom. Instead, invest in a heated duvet, or an electrically heated mattress pad, and make bedtimes so cosy you’ll feel like you’re a freshly toasted human panini!

Just check the water temperature setting on your boiler - make sure it's not hotter than you need!

When you have your heating on in the cold weather, lean your clothes airer on the opposite wall from your hall bannister to dry clothes. Even with no hall/stairs/landing heating, our clothes dry really quickly in a really cold house. Just make sure you keep a nearby window open a crack to stop damp :) 

No such thing as ‘net zero’, but if the powers that be are serious, let’s start at the top by banning private jets, helicopters, swimming pools etc. then ask the rest of us to do ‘our bit’. 

Put one end of a fitted sheet right over your clothes horse, the other end over a radiator, essentially making an airing cupboard. Make sure to keep a window open to prevent dampness or mould.

Invest in some smart plugs e.g. TP-Link Tapo

Create a schedule for devices that are normally on, so that they switch off  outside of their normal usage times e.g. TV and video equipment. Some TVs use 30 watts on standby. Look at all devices that really don’t need to be used 24x7 such as pond pumps, dehumidifiers,any type of heater, lighting and so on.

Put energy monitoring smart plugs on fridges, freezers, washing machines, dryers and dishwashers. Use this data to plan how often you use them or decide if they need replacement. You may be surprised when you see the power usage of old fridges and freezers.

If you tumble dry over the winter and you have a budget, look at a heat exchanger dryer.

Finally - link your smart plugs to Amazon Alexa or Google. Much easier to switch things on and off with a voice command.

Check your smart monitor for which items are “always on” and switch them off when not in use

If you have smart valves on your radiators, reduce the temp by 1.5 degrees - you won’t notice the difference in temperature but will notice the difference in amount of energy used. And have fun in monitoring your savings! If you don’t have smart valves, invest in one at a time - they are so easy to install (I did this myself with no DIY experience!)

Invest in an air fryer - We have a dual air fryer and that really helps when cooking meals to bring the cost down (quicker and less energy!)

Turn off larger devices when not in use such as gaming and TV devices as well as lights and stove, etc

Our boiler room generates a lot of heat so in the winter, we use that to dry our laundry and keep the door open so it warms up our bedroom too. 

Time to get your heating system checked,serviced before you really need it to keep you warm