Part 4 | Energy-saving tips for home workers

April 14th, 2020

General


In the fourth in a series of blogs, we’re leaving you to your own devices and encouraging selective heating.

Device advice

How are you reading this? Phone? Tablet? Laptop?

Think about how multi-functional these devices are while you’re working away at home. Whether you have music, the radio or even the TV on in the background, chances are you can stream it through your device and power down any other items you’ve turned on.

When you’re turning off devices and appliances, be mindful of standby. UK households spend, on average, £30 a year not switching off appliances at the plug. You could go even further and save an extra £10 a year by turning off routers, phones and TV boxes. They don’t use much energy but if left on constantly, as they often are, it adds up.

Find out more simple energy saving tips by calling Home Energy Scotland on freephone 0808 808 2282 or emailing advice@ne.homeenergyscotland.org.

In the zone

Ideally, you’d only heat where you need it, when you need it. And you can!

It’s an option that’s available to many people already, through thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs), which let you control the temperature of individual radiators and rooms. But it’s easy to forget to turn up and turn down as you move around the house.

Zone controls will allow you to warm up certain parts of your home at different times automatically, through separate heating circuits with their own set of programmers and controls.

It’s something to think about if you’re eyeing up a new heating system, to keep your energy use down. However, it might not be suitable for existing systems.

Find out if it’s right for you by giving our Home Energy Scotland advisors a call on freephone 0808 808 2282 or emailing advice@ne.homeenergyscotland.org.


We’ll be back next week with more tips on saving energy while working from home!

Money and carbon savings figures from the Energy Saving Trust. Figures are based on fuel prices as of April 2019. Image by StockSnap from Pixabay