Think smart to cut bills
| Published date | 01 April 2024 |
| Publication title | Huddersfield Daily Examiner |
Gavin Murray, director of British Gas's smart home solution, Hive, says: "Research we recently conducted shows that nearly a third of Brits are worried about their energy bills, so people will be looking to reduce their energy use and cut costs wherever they can.
TOP TIPS: Gas's Gavin. "As well as making small changes to your habits at home, clever smart home technology can also help you become more energy-efficient - which is good for your pocket and the planet."
Here are Gavin's tips for how households can make savings, including utilising smart home tech... Be bright with lights Lighting makes up 11% of average UK household electricity consumption, according to the Energy
Saving Trust.
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Gavin says: "As well as simply turning off your lights when you leave the room, it's worth ensuring all of your bulbs are LED."
According to the Energy Saving Trust's website, switching incandescent bulbs to LEDs may potentially save as much as £14 per bulb, per year, based on a 100 watt bulb.
"When you think about the number of bulbs in a household, that's potentially a significant saving," says Gavin.
Smart plugs can also be used for lighting appliances such as lamps.
"These allow you to monitor energy usage and turn the appliance on and off from a mobile app, as well as set schedules," he says. "So, you can automatically set a lamp to come on during the hours when you know it will be dark, or turn a living room light off if you've forgotten after you've gone to bed."
British Murray
Try a smart thermostat Smart thermostats enable people to manage their heating and hot water from their phone. Gavin says the tech can give people more control of their energy use.
You your on the British "For example, you can get alerts if your heating is still on when you leave the house and set energysaving schedules - all from your phone," he says.
BRIGHT LED Lightbulbs
Smart radiator valves can also be linked to the smart thermostat, to control the temperature in each room of the property. "This allows you to only heat the rooms that you're using," Gavin adds.
Tweaking your routine "Making a simple change to when you use appliances and technology such as dishwashers and washing machines is a you leave...
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