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If you have a bills package with Unlimited Energy from Fused, your energy comes from suppliers who do tons of work to support the environment, including sourcing renewable energy for customers, and investing in more renewable energy for everybody. That's an amazing start.

  • Renewable electricity can produce 69 times less carbon than electricity from fossil fuels 🤯
    Source: CO2everything.com - Coal energy vs. Nuclear or Wind energy 

But...most homes in the UK use gas for heating and hot water.

  • Gas is a fossil fuel which always produces carbon when you use it.
  • Finding quick, easy ways to reduce our gas usage is always a good shout. 

Disclaimer: Obviously domestic energy use is just one part of the environmental equation! Governments and industry are the ones that need to do the real heavy lifting. More on that below 👇

How your favourite song can save energy and cut carbon emissions

It's not the song, it' how you use it. Using your fav song to measure your shower time is our favourite way to save energy with a daily habit: Short Shower Power.


Choose your energy-saving song:

  • Choose your favourite song that's about 5-minutes(ish) long
  • Press play right before you step into the shower.
    • Don't get your phone wet 😨
  • Try to finish showering before the song is over.

That's literally it! 

According to a YouGov poll, about 1/3 of people already listen to music in the shower anyway, so this could be an even easier change.

You can also use the timer function on your phone, or use a cooking timer if you have one going spare. Less opportunity for a singalong with those options, but they're just as effective! 

If you like the idea of saving energy each day, but 5 minute showers just aren't going to work for you, check out some otherenergy-saving ideas.

Your favourite song could be the best way to shorten your shower, for a few reasons:

  • Research shows that if new habits are fun or enjoyable, they're a lot more likely to stick.
  • This is especially true if the habit doesn't have any immediate outcomes. 
    • e.g. saving money, eating better or...reducing carbon emissions
    • Brains are pretty simple in some ways, and if there's no immediate reward, it can struggle to prioritise the task, even if we know it's a good thing. 
  • Having fun means your brain thinks it's already gotten the reward, so making a change with built-in brain boost is a good way to set yourself up for success.
    • That means you could technically justify buying those trainers you want for the gym or getting yourself a little treat every time you fill in a job application.
If the average 18-24 year old took five-minute showers they could save:
  • 308g of CO2 every shower
  • 1.2 kg of CO2 for the average Fused household every day and 438kg of CO2 for the average Fused household every year, or 329kg every 9 months
  • More than 3.7 million kg of CO2 every year for ALL Fused households

That’s enough to make more than 7.8 million cups of coffee ☕️ or to go to the moon and back 55 times in an electric car 🌝👋🚗

These numbers are estimates based on average water and energy use for many shower types in the UK. These things will vary based on your water flow, shower type, temperature and shower frequency. Coffee and moon-driving numbers based on data from co2everything.com

Read more aboutthe benefits of shorter showers.

I have Unlimited Energy - couldn't I take showers for as long as I like?

Absolutely, yes. You don't have to read any of ourenergy-saving tips, let alone follow them, if you don't want to

But, stats from the Office of National Statistics show that 86.5% of UK adults have made changes to their lifestyle to reduce their environmental impact, so it's a safe bet that small changes are something a lot of our customers will be interested in.

But if you're an Unlimited Energy customer, that energy is actually unlimited, so you do you. 

Other ways to save energy in the shower

If five minutes just doesn't sound doable for you, let's look at other ways to save energy in the shower. Remember: these are all just suggestions and tips. If they're not for you, that's all good. Some of them are a bit of a leap 👀

Turn the water off when you don't need it 🚫

You don't really need the water to be running the whole time you're in the shower. It can be turned off while you're shaving, conditioning, doing your skincare, etc.

Check out this tutorial from JVN to see how they do it!

@jvn_official Lets go in depth on hair washing 💅🏻 #washday #haircare ♬ original sound - JVN
  • Running thewaternot only wastes water and energy, but it can wash away conditioner and skincare products so you don't get the full benefit. 
  • JVN used the time while their conditioner sat to exfoliate, but you could do your skincare, shave, rehash a conversation from your day...whatever you like.

If you're an everything shower sort of person, but don't like the idea of wasting so much water or energy, this could be the compromise for you!

Turn the temperature down on your shower 🚿

Dermatologists and haircare experts recommend cooler water for healthier hair and skin. And cooler water means less energy is needed, so it's a double win. 

A nice hot shower has proven stress-relieving benefits, which you already know if you've ever had a longer shower after a stressy day. BUT exposing your hair and skin to hot water too often and for too long strips away the oils that keep them healthy.

A healthy skin barrier is key for a healthy immune system too.

The ideal shower temperature for your skin is between 37 and 41℃. It should feel slightly warmer than your skin. Test with your wrist, not your fingers. The skin there is more sensitive. 

Take cold showers🥶

Another one that definitely isn't for everybody ☃️ BUT you might already have seen the ice bath/cryotherapy trend in wellness spaces online. The people taking part in theice bath trendclaim it's boosted everything from their metabolism to their mental health.

Some of these claims seem to bebacked by science, and the good news is you can get a lot of the same benefit from a cold shower! Way easier, and cheaper, than spending a few hundred quid on an ice bath pod.  

This trend could save a ton of energy and carbon emissions too! The science on the health benefits might vary, but the energy thing is 100% guaranteed.

Remember: Heating water is one of the most energy-intensive things we do in the home, so if you shower with no heat...you're not using any energy.

We don't have the stats on this, but you'll probs save tons of water too. There's a good chance that a cold shower = a shorter shower. 

Shower less often 👀

Dermatologists and environmentalists agree that showering daily isn't actually necessary for most people.

Obviously if you work a manual job,  go hard in the gym every day, or rely on showers for stress relief or some chill time, this isn't the approach for you.

But if you're into healthy skin barriers, saving time, and saving energy...it might not be as crazy as you think. The BBC even published an article in April 2024 titled There's no need to shower every day - here's why, which sounds like a pretty good starting point if you haven't already run for the hills. 

Sometimes we get emails from people upset that we're trying to dictate their life choices, so we just want to be super clear that these are just suggestions. Shower however you like! 

Do I still need to save energy if my supplier has renewable energy?

Renewableenergy is AMAZING. It creates up to 69 times LESS carbon than fossil fuels. 

One day of energy use in an average home produces:

  • 0.36kg of carbon with nuclear or wind-generated energy.
    • That's 360g. The same weight as less than half a loaf of bread.
  • 25kg of carbon with coal-generated energy.
    • That's 31.25 loaves of bread. 
    Based on data fromco2everything.com.and tesco.com. 

So when we say it's an amazing step for reducing your environmental impact, we mean it. 

But governments haven't invested heavily enough in renewable sources for them to meet all of our energy demand yet. This means that the higher our energy demand, the more of that demand has to be met with fossil fuels, which means more carbon emissions.

This means that the greenest energy is the energy you don't use! 

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