Last year, we wrote a wee postie about some great money savings ideas for Xmas, but we didn’t cover something that is actually rather important to be aware of at Christmas…what money you can claw back if you save on energy. You would be surprised at just how much blooming energy we all use when we are trying to get everything sorted for the big day.
I don’t mean the energy required to get around the shops and beat the queues at the cashdesks; I mean the energy that helps power your everyday household.
This is a collaborative post.
How much money can we save and put into the pot for next year if we are all just a little bit more careful about what we are using in those Christmas preparations? To start, we can check the amount of energy we are using by visiting a tool like E.ON’s Saving Energy Toolkit. Available to E.ON customers, this handy tool lets them track their energy use and even plot it against similar households in their local area to see if they’re on par with everyone else. Believe it or not, our energy companies are trying to help us keep our energy costs down. If we are payin more than we would like, we might switch. Clearly, this is not something that they want us to do.
Once we have done that, then there are a few other little things that we can look at which will help us to save on energy costs at Christmas:
Watch your water
We all like everything to be “just so” at Christmas, and that means giving the house a good clean, and ourselves one too. However, bear in mind how much water you are using, and use it sensibly. Even down to the smallest things like making sure you only fill up the kettle for the amount of water that you need for that Christmas morning brew.
Turning it down or off
In our house, making sure we are all “just so” includes cleaning the sheets, duvets, tables cloths, and all the other Christmas linen. This means extra washing. Nevermind that the kids are off school, and so are bound to get covered in all manner of dirty stuff as they try and cause trouble in the garden. The washing machine becomes our constant friend over the Christmas period – so why not turn it down a notch? You will save on energy just by doing this. The energy saving trust has some great tips on keeping the energy use for your laundry to a minimum. Think about it over Christmas, and you might even have a little extra for another pig in blanket with your Turkey!
Turning the washing machine down isn’t the only way that we can help, just with the turn of a dial of the flick of a switch. Did you know that over 49% of us overcharge our devices, particularly mobiles and laptops? When that new phone you get for Christmas reaches the 100% bar – turn if off. You will be surprised on what you can save on energy if you do.
Kitchen smarts
At Christmas, the kitchen is pretty central to the smooth running of the day; so make sure you are using it with all those energy saving ideas in mind. Anything from not heating up the oven too soon, to using the hobs smartly. Only put on the right sized pan for those hob rings, so you don’t waste energy heating a pan that’s too small for the hob you are using. Little things these may be, but your turkey, well depending on the size of the family that could be a VERY big thing! Consider only cooking the Turkey crown, just as we suggested in our post earlier this year on cooking turkey from Marco Pierre White. This takes less time to cook, and so less energy. Use the rest of the oven while you are cooking the bird as well, so make sure you are roasting your tatties in there too.
Stand by your man (or appliance)
Turn off your appliances, and don’t add those stand by lights to the Christmas festivities. If you get electronic gear for Christmas, after you plug it in, turn it off. You can save in a year just by doing this. According to Eon, we spend between £50 – 86 a year on standby appliances. That’s enough for your Turkey right there :-D
Thermostat blues
Finally, have you taken a look at the little dial and box on the wall thingy that controls all of your energy? Do you need it up as high as it is? Is it really THAT cold, or would turning it down a degree make a difference to the energy you used, and not that much difference to how warm the house is?
In particular, on Christmas day itself, you are going to possibly have an oven that is constantly on the go, heating up your house. At the very least, perhaps you can turn is down just for those kinds of days. That way the turkey is not just helping feed the family on Christmas day, its also helping keep you all warm ;-)
Do you have any other Christmas energy saving tips you would like to share with us?
Source: Statistics for this article are from https://www.eonenergy.com/for-your-home/saving-energy.
Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine! Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time. KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10. It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania. Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on. Get in touch TODAY!