10 Energy Saving Tips

I received my gas bill today, along with a letter informing me that homeowners in the UK waste a staggering £2.9 billion on energy every year. Fortunately there are things you, and I, can do about this as Scottish Gas also enclosed a booklet full of helpful tips and advice on how to save money, stay warm this winter, and become more energy efficient. 


Here are their top ten tips: 

Don’t burn gas unnecessarily. Many people think it’s cheaper to keep gas continuously lit on their cookers rather than to turn it off and on again as required - this is a mad wives tale! Turning the gas off after you’ve used the cooker could reduce your bills by up to 33%.

Did you know that heating your home counts for over 60% of domestic gas bills? Turning your heating down by one degree could make a 10% reduction to your monthly bill. Turning your heating off completely could give you a saving of over 60% on your bill. In winter the amount of gas used for heating rises dramatically so turning off your heating in winter could save you even more money!


Energy saving lightbulbs last ten times longer than traditional energy costing bulbs and save around £40 over the lifetime of the bulb. 100 energy saving lightbulbs would save you £4000 whilst buying 10,000 energy saving lightbulbs would save you over £400,000! 

Use the economy programme on your washing machine wherever possible, or wear your clothes for longer periods without washing them. In the same way that human hair left untouched will eventually start to wash itself*, soiled items of clothing will eventually start to clean themselves**. After a year of continually wearing the same clothes they will look and smell as good as new!


Reduce heating bills by the use of visualisation techniques. Psychologists have shown that projecting your thoughts can have actual physiological effects on the body. Imagining you're soaking up the suns rays on a topical island paradise, whilst you’re wearing a jumper, and the jumper is on fire, could save you over £80 on your winter fuel costs. Whereas imagining you are standing at the North Pole, in your underwear, and your underwear is full of ice-cubes could add over £164 to your winter fuel bill.

Exercise is a great way of staying warm, and best of all it’s absolutely free. Star jumps, squat thrusts and press ups will all significantly raise your body core temperature. As long as you exercise continually throughout the winter, without stopping, your body sweat won't freeze and you can avoid hypothermia. Exercise has additional health benefits, particularly for the elderly as it helps to keep their circulation going and is a great alternative to freezing to death because they can’t afford to pay their heating bills. 

Baths and electric showers use large quantities of energy so switch to more efficient methods of keeping clean such as sand baths, as used by indigenous tribes peoples in arid habitats like the bushmen of the Kalahari. Bathing in sand, or dirt, absorbs bodily oils and not only has the benefit of saving water but also helps to keep flies and insects away. 


Most heat loss from the human body escapes from the top of the head, and the same is true for your house. You can reduce your carbon emissions and decrease heat loss by having one of our qualified engineers install a large hat on top of your roof. A giant sombrero, or a ten thousand gallon stetson, can insulate your home in winter and reduce your heating bills by up to 46%. Government grants are also available to help the over 70’s and those on low incomes purchase home balaclavas.

Keep warm this winter by building a thick insulating layer of blubber. Just 10cm of blubber could save you £15 a month whereas a 200cm layer of blubber could save over £200 a month. Eating several tons of krill on a daily basis throughout the short summer months will help your body produce blubber thick enough to withstand sub zero temperatures, but will also help you to avoid the need for heating food during the winter as you will be able to survive for months on your own fatty deposits. Alternatively our friendly technicians can install a layer of cavity wall insulation directly under your skin. 

Hibernation is another great way of reducing your winter fuel bills. By dropping your body temperature, and slowing your breathing and heart rate, you will become impervious to the cold and sleep right through until spring. If hibernation isn’t your thing then why not try migrating south for the winter. Monarch butterflies spend the summer in Canada and migrate to Mexico for the winter, whereas the CEO of Scottish Gas and spends the summer in the Seychelles and the winter relaxing in an exclusive beach resort somewhere in the Maldives. Adopting the lifestyles of our animal cousins could help save you £££s!

*It doesn’t, you just get used to the smell.
**It doesn’t, you just get used to the smell.