Money saving winter preparations

With the nights getting longer and the days getting colder, how will you get your home ready for winter? In particular, after the clocks go back in October, you may find that you need to use more energy to heat and light your home in the evening.
Considering this, we have a range of solutions to help you reduce your energy use and make your Victorian tenement flat warmer and brighter, without using more gas or electricity!

Here are some of our top tips for winter…

• Replace your bulbs with LEDs – this can reduce the amount of electricity your lamps use by up to 90%, some households can save up to £100 per year.
• Draughtproof your external door, windows and any chimneys – stopping hot air from getting out and cold air from getting in means you won’t need to use as much energy to heat your home
• Hang thermal curtains over your windows – close the curtains at night when the sun goes down and open them in the morning once the sun comes up
• Install a clothes pulley – clothes often take longer to dry during the winter, but using a pulley means your clothes will dry quicker as they use the heat trapped high up at the ceiling to dry your washing faster
• If you have a room thermostat, we recommend setting it between 18°C and 21°C – no matter how cold it gets outside, a room thermostat should keep your home at a constant temperature when the boiler is turned on, either at the boiler switch or using the timer

High winter energy bills are bad news but the good news is, if you make these changes around the time the clocks change you will significantly reduce your winter energy bills.

For more advice or a free home energy audit drop in to our base at the Queen’s Park end of  Victoria Road, call on 0141 636 3959 or email saveenergy@southseeds.org.