As the summer months continue to roll on, and the price of energy bills continue to rise, managing your energy consumption is a big priority for households across the UK. Families and businesses across the country are looking for ways to stay cool and make it through the summer without raising their energy prices too much. Our complete guide to managing your energy consumption this summer is here to give you tips and tricks to stay cool on a budget! To find out more, keep on reading!
Surviving The Summer: On A Budget
Summer is one of the most popular seasons, with the beaming rays, blooming flowers and happier people, summer can be a beautiful time of year. With that being said however, summer comes with its problems just like any other season. Luckily, we’ve outlined some useful ways that you can minimise your energy usage over the hot summer months. You can try some of these tips and tricks this summer to watch your energy prices drop!
Close Those Curtains
Closing the curtains throughout the day can help keep your home nice and cool for free! Peak sunlight usually occurs throughout the morning and the day, as the sunset is much later during this time. So, keeping your bedroom and communal spaces cool can be done nice and easily with open windows and closed curtains. And if you have blackout curtains, even better! These kinds of curtains will do a great job of keeping the sunlight out of your home.
If you have a lot of sunny spots in your home, or large windows, conservatories…etc. Then avoiding these areas during peak sunlight hours is probably wise. You can find a range of shutters, curtains and blinds for skylights and other windows that may be letting in too much sunlight.
Windows & Doors
Keeping your doors closed and your windows open will go a long way in keeping your home cool, especially with the curtains closed. Closing your doors will help to keep each room at a stable temperature, rather than allowing hot air to circulate your home.
Keeping your windows open, especially at night, will also benefit you by allowing the natural breeze to circulate through the rooms in your home. At night, this can be an excellent way to keep cool, as the temperatures tend to drop. Good circulation and minimal sunlight is perfect for keeping you nice and cool throughout the day and the night.
Fans Are Your Friend
Air conditioning units can be expensive to run as well as not being super economical, but finding an alternative that keeps you just as cool can prove a bit of a challenge.
Fans are a good alternative to using your air conditioning and they can save you up to 40% of the energy used on A/C. While they may not cool down the air in a particular room or lower the temperature, they can be very effective in keeping your body temperature at a regular level and keeping your body cool. You can find a range of energy-efficient and portable fans, so you can use them at your convenience. This can be quite helpful if particular rooms in your home get extremely warm or if you’re sat in one place for a while.
Natural Evening Light
It may sound obvious, but turning your lights off and maximising on natural light is a fantastic way to cut down those energy costs. With the sun setting around 9pm or sometimes even later, you have the luxury of natural light for a majority of the day. Trying to avoid turning lights and lamps on will reduce your energy costs by a lot.
Additionally, the natural light outside may encourage you to spend more evenings sitting outside or getting out of the house, reducing your energy costs even further.
Solar Panels
Continuing the theme of natural light, solar panels are an innovative and eco-conscious way of bringing your energy costs down, by a lot. Solar panels can be an expensive development to have installed, however, after the upfront cost you have your own energy source right on top of your house! They are extremely convenient, easy to maintain and simply use the sun’s natural energy to power your home.
Solar panels are an excellent addition to any home, as they are environmentally friendly and typically only require an annual maintenance check. Homes with solar panels will also benefit from solar batteries, which store the excess energy procured by your solar panels. Having a back up store of energy can come in handy at any given time, so investing in solar panels and batteries could be a smart way to tackle the skyrocketing energy prices.
Avoid The Oven
Cooking a delicious oven baked meal during the summer is not going to work to your advantage. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, your oven contributes significantly to your electricity bills, so using it throughout the summer will definitely increase your expenses.
Secondly, actually using the oven will release heat into your kitchen, warming up the room quite rapidly. So, if you’re looking to stay cool on a budget, avoiding your oven is definitely in your best interest. Barbecuing is a more fun alternative that gets you out of the house and steers you clear of the oven! It can be a fun social activity that lets you soak up the sun’s rays too!
Laundry
In the cold winter months, most homes are using their washer and their dryer to get their laundry done. Washers and dryers use up almost as much electricity as your oven, so they are also pretty costly appliances to run.
In the summer however, simply hanging your laundry outside, or in the warmest rooms (with good air circulation) can help bring down your expenses! Maximising on the natural heat and daylight will definitely work to your advantage.
Insulation
This is another long term investment, much like solar panels, however, having quality insulation put into your home will help to regulate the temperature of your home all year round.
While many people assume that insulation only helps to trap heat in your home, warming it through the cold winter months, it can actually benefit you massively during the summer too! Insulation will help to prevent your home from overheating and trap cool air in your attic, regulating the heat even on the sunniest days. Even if you don’t have insulation, it’s never too late to have insulation put into your home.
Eco4 Scheme
If your home isn’t energy efficient, and it’s costing you more than you can afford, then the Eco4 government scheme can help you find solutions to properly manage your home’s energy.
The Eco4 scheme was set up in April 2022 by the government to help low-income households. The scheme seeks to help vulnerable households find efficient and affordable energy solutions. These could be improvements to installation, heating upgrades, smart controls or storage heaters. This scheme will help homes by using government funding to provide energy improvements and help families save on their monthly bills going forwards.
Here at UK Energy Management, we can take care of the process. All you need to do to find out if you’re eligible for the Eco4 scheme, is head to our website to register.
UK Energy Management
Our team at UK Energy Management are industry experts who are here to help you with energy management solutions. From heating upgrades to loft insulation, we provide a range of energy management services.
For further enquiries about the services that we offer or how we can help you, feel free to get in touch with us and speak to our team today! We will be happy to talk to you and help you find exactly what you’re looking for.
