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Save energy when you go home for christmas

Written by Fused Bills | Feb 28, 2024 12:23:49 PM

Save energy during your winter break by taking a few minutes before you head home to cut your energy use and your carbon emissions. And if you're not on an Unlimited Energy package, you could save some money too. 

If you're leaving your student house to head home for winter break, there are a few easy tricks to reduce your energy usage, your carbon emissions AND make sure your house is still in good shape when you get back.

If you fancy checking out more energy-saving goodness, check out our Short Shower Power guide for how to shrink your carbon footprint every day while cutting your hot water usage.

You won't be using most of your electronics while you're away, so switch them off at the wall! 

  • New electronics indeed have to meet higher energy efficiency standards, BUT, anything you leave switched on when you don't need it will use excess energy.
  • This will rack up unnecessary expenses on your energy meter, and even if you're on an Unlimited Energy deal, you'll be generating carbon emissions that you could easily cut. 

Check out our energy mythbusting post for more detail on which devices could be used but if nobody's at home, it's a guarantee that anything you leave running is a waste.

Electronic devices to switch off before you head home to save energy 

Switch all the plugs off at the wall

  • TVs/Monitors

  • Games Consoles

  • Microwave

  • Alarm clocks

  • Smart Home Assistants (Google Home, Amazon Echo, etc.)

  • Bluetooth speakers (or Bluetooth anything else)

  • Chargers

  • Air purifier/dehumidifier 

Turning appliances off standby mode can make a difference, especially if there are loads of you in the house. 

Turn off the lights 

You might want to leave a light on a timer for security - totally up to you - but make sure you haven't left any on by accident.

Central heating is the biggest use of energy during winter

And since you won't be at home, this makes it a super easy way to cut your energy use (and energy costs, if you're not on an unlimited deal)

  • Turn the thermostat down to 12-15℃
    • Your student house doesn't need to be as warm if you're not in it.
    • BUT you still need to put it on so that your pipes don't freeze.
    • The good news is that this is by far the easiest way to make sure you use less energy over winter. Heating uses tons of energy, and taking a few seconds to whack the thermostat to a lower temperature before you go home will drastically reduce your energy use.
      • Did you know turning the heating down by 1℃ can use up to 10% less energy over 8 hours?!
      • TIP: Close curtains and blinds in your bedroom to keep heat in so things aren't freezing when you get back.

Why should you save energy if you have an Unlimited Energy deal?

 The short answer is that you don't have to reduce your energy consumption if you don't want to. 

We put this guide together because, according to the Office of National Statistics, 75% of UK adults care about the environment, and 86.5% have made changes to their lifestyle to reduce their environmental impact.

Every bit of energy saved is good for reducing carbon emissions, especially if all of our thousands of customers did a little bit. 

But, you do you. Everybody with a Fused package has Unlimited Energy, so you can use as much as you need with no stress about energy bills. That's the deal!

If you want to check out more tips to be more energy efficient and help the environment, check these out:

Check out our other energy saving stuff:
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