The clocks are changing and longer days are on the way. There's so much we can do to take advantage of the change in seasons to help us save energy, so we've pulled together our top 5 tips on how to reduce your energy consumption (and your energy bill) this springtime
Get your clothes line back up in the garden
If you regularly use the tumble dryer, could be costing you around £1.50 a cycle. That's quite a lot of energy! Even though March, April and May in the UK can still bring cool days, did you know it doesn't actually have to be sunny outside to dry your clothes? A dry and breezy day will dry your clothes just fine - as long as you get them outside early in the morning and bring them in before dusk when dew begins to form.
Take a moment to check your heating schedule
Spring can be an awkward time for managing the temperature in your home because it fluctuates quite a bit between the day and the night. But with more sunshine hours, you can proabably start to think about setting your heating to come on a bit later and for less time - as well as lowering the overall temperature you are heating your home to.
Open the curtains
This is a very simple but very effective way of using the natural warmth of the sun to heat your home. The days are getting lighter and by the start of April, most of us will be getting up in the morning with the sunshine. Whereas during the winter months its tempting to keep your curtains and blinds closed the whole day, now its spring, make sure you open them so the sun can warm your home.
Get out of the house more
Winter makes us want to curl up with a blanket and the thought of doing outside activities is not a welcoming one. It can actually be quite hard to break the habit of getting home from work / school and just switching on the TV to settle down for the evening. But with lighter evenings on the way, why not avoid turning everything on at home quite so early - and get into the habit of going for a walk or getting out in the garden. The less we are in our houses, the less energy we are consuming. Not to mention the health benefits of getting out and doing a bit more exercise.
Turn the lights off
We recently surveyed 2000 UK adults, who told us they estimate they leave the lights on unnecessarily for 3 hours and 36 seconds every single day. Based on the average household usage of 2,700kWh of energy, we estimate the nation could power 125,856 homes for an entire year from light energy waste. So just imagine if all of us reduced that unecessary light wastage. What a massive impact that would have on the energy consumed in the UK.
Why not use the change in season to signal a change in mindset and take an extra moment to remember to turn the lights off? Just leaving a little postit note on the front door can be enough to break a habit.