It will come as no surprise that you use more energy in the winter, but that first hefty energy bill of the season might be more of a shock. Heating a home, while often necessary during the colder months in the UK, can sometimes end up being more expensive than anticipated, and it can often feel like there’s nothing that can be done about it.
Well, fear not, because in this blog, our energy experts will be covering 6 ways you can keep your bills to a minimum even when you feel you’re using maximum energy! With these winter home energy saving tips, you could end up with far more disposable income for other, more exciting winter essentials.
6 Winter Home Energy Saving Tips From Bbright
Bbright’s energy experts know exactly what it takes to efficiently heat a home without ramping up the bills. Take our winter home energy saving tips on board from today, and you could see significant change in the coming months.
1. Get a smart meter
If you don’t already have a smart meter, you’re likely missing out on savings. A smart meter provides a constant overview of how much energy you are using in your household, and how much it is costing you. Having this view will likely prompt you to use your heating system for less time, on top of making small habitual changes elsewhere in the home, for example being mindful of switching off appliances and lights
2. Replace your inefficient boiler
An inefficient boiler is one of the key culprits of high energy bills. If you haven’t had a new boiler for several years, or feel like you are constantly having to repair your current model, the likelihood is that you are due an upgrade. For most homes, we recommend switching to combination boilers for optimum efficiency, but we can conduct an online assessment that will recommend specific models for you, taking into account your circumstances.
3. Utilise your windows
Believe it or not, windows are a great tool for keeping your home at optimum temperature. During the day, keeping curtains and blinds open to let sunlight in can make quite a difference to your home temperature, and at night, making sure they are closed can help to keep the heat inside. Of course, ensuring you have double glazing is vital when it comes to keeping draughts at bay.
4. Choose LED lights
Since the days get much shorter during the winter, the need for lighting dramatically increases. Storms, snow and clouds can even cause us to resort to lighting our homes in the daytime. Switching out bulbs for LED lights is a surefire way to keep costs down, even if it seems like a small change. It’s worth remembering that home energy saving can start with seemingly insignificant switches like this – eventually, if habits are maintained, it will make an impact!
5. Try space heaters
Whether you have a small one-bedroom flat or a large family home, there’s rarely a need to heat every room at once. Using space heaters can limit the amount of time you are using your full heating system, giving you just enough heat to be comfortable in a couple of key areas. This is especially relevant for those who live alone or those who work from home. Alternatively, you could try switching off radiators in rooms that are used less frequently.
6. Use other means for warmth
Winter home energy saving doesn’t have to involve making new purchases. If you’re serious about keeping bills low, try to find other means for keeping warm. This could be as simple as layering up – wearing an extra jumper during the day or adding a couple of blankets to your bed at night. If you have a wood-burning fireplace, put it to good use throughout the day. You could even start leaving the oven door open after use to make the most of its residual heat! Again, while these changes may seem small, together they can seriously reduce your energy costs.
Hopefully these winter home energy saving tips have given you some inspiration as to how you can manage your bills during the colder months. Little changes certainly go a long way in the world of energy!
Could a new boiler solve your winter home energy problems? If you’re noticing inefficiencies with your current heating system, contact our experts at Bbright and get a quote for a boiler replacement before the cold really sets in.
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
_gac_
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
Clarity is a web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic.
Persists the Clarity User ID and preferences, unique to that site is attributed to the same user ID.
12 months
_clsk
Connects multiple page views by a user into a single Clarity session recording.
12 months
CLID
Identifies the first-time Clarity saw this user on any site using Clarity.
12 months
ANONCHK
Indicates whether MUID is transferred to ANID, a cookie used for advertising. Clarity doesn't use ANID and so this is always set to 0.
Session
SourceBuster is used by WooCommerce for order attribution based on user source.
Name
Description
Duration
sbjs_migrations
Technical data to help with migrations between different versions of the tracking feature
session
sbjs_current_add
Timestamp, referring URL, and entry page for your visitor’s current visit to your store
session
sbjs_first_add
Timestamp, referring URL, and entry page for your visitor’s first visit to your store (only applicable if the visitor returns before the session expires)
session
sbjs_current
Traffic origin information for the visitor’s current visit to your store
session
sbjs_first
Traffic origin information for the visitor’s first visit to your store (only applicable if the visitor returns before the session expires)
session
sbjs_udata
Information about the visitor’s user agent, such as IP, the browser, and the device type
session
sbjs_session
The number of page views in this session and the current page path