Energy saving tips for when you’re working from home
January 21, 2021 | Laura Whittle
Following the outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020, homeworking became the norm for millions of people living in the UK.
Since then, many employers have now adapted to hybrid working, which means a lot of us are working from home more often or permanently. And, with more time spent at home comes all those cups of tea, extra heating, and plugged-in laptops. This can all add up to a much bigger household energy footprint.
Fortunately, new-build homes are built to be energy efficient, making them much cheaper to run and dramatically lower the household carbon footprint compared to older properties.
However, if you are looking to reduce your bill costs and continue to minimise your environmental impact, we’ve put together some top energy saving tips that will help you spend more time at home without spending more money.
Heating’s cheating
Normally, our central heating is off during the day when we are at work. Now that we are at home more, you are likely to have the heating on during the day now, too – especially at this time of year.
It is, however, important to make sure you do not leave your heating on all day, as this can result in higher energy bills. Instead, try to only heat the rooms you use and turn the temperature down a few degrees to help save energy and money. Turning your thermostat down by just 1°C can reduce your energy bills by up to 10%.
Cool it on the kettle-boiling
When it comes to tea breaks, only boil what you need! Even if you drink a lot of hot drinks throughout the day, it is still more energy efficient to boil less water and to not overfill your kettle.
Another tip is to invest in a thermos or tea pot so you can enjoy regular refills without the need to re-boil the kettle.
Switch on to switching off
Unplugging chargers (especially ones with display lights) or making use of standby mode could save a lot of money and energy.
Some other tips for electricals include:
- Avoid charging devices once they reach 100% – do not leave them charging overnight
- Turn off and unplug laptops and tablets as soon as you are finished using them
- A good habit is to unplug your internet router every night before bed
Leave the lights off
Especially during winter, we find ourselves using a lot more lighting when at home. Often, artificial lighting is needed when we are working, but it is not always necessary. So, try and resist turning on lights during the daytime unless you really need it.
Make a habit of turning lights off when you leave a room you are no longer using – this will make a big difference to your energy usage.
Also, you could try switching from traditional halogen bulbs to bright LED energy efficient bulbs to cut down on costs even further.
These are just a few of our energy saving tips. We’d love to hear what you’ve been doing to be more energy efficient at home. Share your tips with us over on our Facebook page or on Twitter.