Reduce the shock of your energy prices

I don't know about you,  but with energy prices continuing to soar to scary heights, I have been looking at some of the cost-cutting gadgets available on the market that could help us save some money. 

I was amazed at the number of gadgets out there! From eco-shower heads to LED bulbs, air fryers to tumble dryers, and much more in between.  Let me share some of my favourites.  

Smart Plug

One of the first things it could be worth investing in is a smart plug, as some can monitor energy consumption.  You can plug this into any appliance and link it to an app on your phone and the app will tell you how much energy the appliance is consuming. This allows you to monitor usage and see what is costing you the most money, allowing you to decide if you can live without it or perhaps you can update the appliance. You can then decide whether you need to replace your appliance with a more energy-efficient one. 

LED Bulbs

Simply changing your usual bulbs to LED bulbs across your home could save you up to £40 a year on your bills. Once quite expensive, LED bulbs have dropped in price recently,  meaning this could be an easy save for you, once you have made the switch to LED bulbs. 

Tumble Dryer Egg

We use our tumble dryer a lot over the winter months. I was shocked at how much it can cost to run a tumble dryer and so I'm really intrigued to see if a tumble dryer egg can help save us money. This little gadget goes in the drum with your load and helps move your washing around in the drum, meaning it dries more quickly and saves you a few pennies each time.  

Eco-shower head

We all love a long, hot shower in the morning and one very easy way to save money is shorter showers! But if that's still not enough saving,  why not try an eco-shower head, specially designed to give the feeling of higher pressure without actually using more water, meaning you save money. There are things to consider before you buy one, as there are different types on the market, and you should make sure you buy from a reputable seller. Once you have found one that suits your shower, it is fairly straightforward to fit.  Unfortunately, eco-shower heads are not compatible with electric showers, but electric showers are already fairly efficient so you shouldn’t need one anyway. 

Smart thermostat

This clever device allows you to adjust the temperature in each room of your house, meaning if you're not using a room, you don't have to spend money to heat it! Smart thermostats link to your phone and many come with a number of sensors that can be installed in each room; the sensors detect if a room is being used and adjusts the temperature accordingly. You can buy more sensors if you need them. A number of different smart thermostats are available, some can be installed yourself, whereas others would require a domestic electrician to install them. 

Air fryer

I was surprised recently to learn that it is cheaper to cook chicken in an air fryer than in an oven! For example, it can cost 12p to cook chicken in an oven and around half that in an air fryer. An air fryer is smaller than an oven, gets hotter quicker and stays hotter for longer. They have a fan heating element that circulates the heat around your food, meaning it is cooked evenly. Perhaps this is a way for you to save some money. Of course, if you're roasting potatoes, veg and other bits at the same time as your meat then it's probably more economical to use the oven on balance, but it's worth thinking about.  

Kettle

Last, but not least is investing in a kettle that only boils one cup at a time.  So easily do I overfill my kettle, boiling the amount of water for six cups when one or two would do (and doing this many times a day!). This smart gadget will only boil one cup at a time,  meaning you save some pennies every time you make a cuppa. 

These are just a few of the cost-cutting gadgets on the market if you are looking at saving money on your energy bills. 

Remember, as a domestic electrician at A Bathe Electrics, we are happy to discuss any electrical jobs in your home that you need to complete. Please contact us for further information.