With energy bills remaining at all-time highs, households and organisations across the UK are looking for ways to save energy at Christmas. The festive season can place enough strain on budgets before you even start to factor in the extra energy being used and its effect on your bills.
Here’s a few tips to help you along the way, and how we can embed these tips for good:
Switch to LED – We talk a lot here at CRC about the importance of switching to LED lighting. It not only gives you an immediate reduction on energy bills, but a reduction in your carbon footprint as well. By using LED bulbs on your Christmas tree or around the house, school or business, you can reduce the amount of electricity by up to 90%.
Time your lights – Christmas lights look great; they can light up homes and buildings to get you in the festive mood. But there’s no reason to have them on all the time. You can connect your lighting to plug timers and set them as you wish, perhaps to come on when light falls and then switch off before you leave the office or go to bed.
Watch the thermostat – At home when the oven is on cooking a large Christmas lunch and you have a houseful of guests, take advantage of extra heat around the room or house and turn down the thermostat. This can also apply at your office Christmas party or school Christmas lunch, if everyone is in one room or building and the rest is empty, consider looking at turning off everything else.
Energy saving gifts – If it’s the gift of electronics you’re giving this year then consider the energy efficiency grades before you buy. Since 2021, the rating scale goes from A-G, with A being the most energy efficient. Have a look at the rating when doing your family Christmas shopping; not only might you lower their carbon footprint but also save money on bills. Sounds like a good present to me.
These tips can be useful around the Christmas period, however we want to look at changing habits and behaviours for good.
We can embed tips like these and more sustainable ideas as we move into an unsettled future for the energy market. We reflect on the circle of Using-Less a lot here and how moving around this circle can help you implement behaviour change and continue to do so. We have developed and updated our Using Less Stuff Behaviour Change programme to fit the current climate and we always strive to deliver cost cutting, sustainable idea, but more importantly embed behaviour change.
It’s a wonderful time of year, time to reflect and rest with family and loved ones, but now more than ever we must be cautious when it comes to energy use and the effects it’s having on our pockets and the planet.
Ref: www.pleaseconnectme.co.uk
Energy Saving Tips for Christmas | The Range
