Reduce energy use

APPLY - Winter Fuel Payment SWITCH - Energy Suppliers REDUCE - Energy Use

Reducing your gas and electricity consumption is the best way you can reduce your energy bill. Follow our 6 golden rules and you can make significant savings on your energy bill.

1. Insulate your world - Good insulation keeps the heat in and the cold out. The majority of heat escapes through doors, windows, walls and the roof of a house. With proper insulation you could save in excess of £300 a year. Make sure your roof and wall cavities are well insulated. Take the time to fill gaps around windows and doors.

If you're over 60 you may be entitled to a government grant to insulate your home or install new heating. Call the Home Heat Helpline on 0800 33 66 99. It is staffed by experts who can find you information and provide advice on keeping warm.

2. Warm wisely - Heating our homes is a major energy waster. Rather than turning up the heat pull out a blanket or put on an extra layer of clothing.

3. Save up to an additional 25% on energy costs with Thermilate Paint Additive. Simply add the contents of Thermilate to your paint, then paint away.

4. Change the lights - For every light you change you can expect to save £5 - £10 per year. Change the lights in you main living areas and you could be saving £50 - £100 every year. Your home will also be saving about 700 pounds of carbon dioxide per year. Buy discounted energy lights bulbs.

5. Become A-rated - When buying new domestic appliances always look for an A-rating. All retailers in the UK must display energy ratings with A being the most efficient.

Also be on the look out The Energy Efficiency Recommended logo; makes the most efficient products instantly recognisable.

All home appliances on the Argos website show their energy rating.

When purchasing office equipment keep an eye out for the Energy Star logo.

It helps you identify equipment that will save you money and help protect the environment. You can find the Energy Star logo on equipment such as computers, monitors, printers, scanners, faxes and photocopiers. The savings can be significant; energy consumption for a new PC and printer varies between 40kWh/year and 400kWh/year and corresponding running costs range from £3 to £28 per year.

6. Switch off - Don't leave appliances, such as TVs, stereos and DVD players, on standby and remember not to leave appliances like mobile phones or laptops on charge unnecessarily. Nearly £1 billion of electricity is wasted every year from appliances being left on standby!

Energy suppliers are continually changing their tariffs. We recommend you conduct a review of your energy use by visting Seniors Discounts every 12 months and following our simple 1-2-3 steps to save money on energy costs.