Student Saving Tips For Your Energy Bills
Student Saving Tips For Your Energy Bills
The colder months have crept up on us and we’re officially feeling wintery! With that, you’re probably giving your housemates the side-eye wondering who will be the first to suggest putting the heating on.
For most of you, your first year at uni will also be the first time you’re living away from home. With this newfound freedom, there are a lot of responsibilities that you may not be used to dealing with, and a major one is handling your energy bills.
If you’re living in halls of residence, your energy bills will be included in your rent. However, if you’re living in private accommodation such as a student house or flat, you may be in charge of sorting out your bills and paying your providers yourself. As you may be aware, there is an energy crisis at the moment, which means the cost of bills is higher than it has been in a while. So, without further ado, we’ve got some student saving tips to help you knock a few pennies off your energy bills this year.
1. Turn Your Appliances Off
You may be reading this thinking, “obviously, I turn my appliances off”, but most people are fooled by standby! To save energy, your appliances need to be completely switched off. A bit of extra effort, yes but you can save almost £55 per year off of your energy bills by ensuring you always do this.
2. DIY Draught Proof
Unless you’re living in a newly-built house, your home won’t have the most up-to-date methods of keeping cold air out. On top of cold air coming in, ineffective draught proofing also lets hot air out, wasting the energy you pay for.
There are a few ways to draught-proof your home. You can try draught banishing adhesive for your windows, which will not cause long-lasting damage, so you’ll keep hold of your deposit. On top of this, you can get draught excluders to put at the bottom of your doors; this will block the cold coming in and help to retain some of that precious heat.
3. Limit Your Time In The Shower
In the colder months, it’s so tempting to have a long, luxurious hot shower to warm you up. In reality though, this is costing you money! One easy way to cut down on your energy bills is to make sure you’re not spending longer than 5 minutes in the shower. Your housemates should also get on board with this to make sure you’re maximising the money you could be saving.
4. Be Clever About Charging Devices
As a student, you have libraries, student unions and study spaces that are available to charge your devices in. If you and all your housemates charge your devices outside of your home, you’ll be saving money on your electricity bills! It seems small, but the costs will definitely add up.
5. Rent With Bills Included
If you’re overwhelmed by all these ways of ensuring you’re not overspending on energy, you can simply look for properties that have their bills included! These may increase or decrease slightly due to the energy crisis, but once it’s fixed in your contract, it’s unlikely that they will change suddenly. Speak to your landlord about these options and keep them in mind when you’re looking for your next student property.
Being a student can be daunting, especially as you’re learning to control aspects of your life that you may have never needed to before. Due to the cost of living crisis, this year is going to be particularly tricky but following the tips we’ve provided might make things a little easier (and a little less expensive!).
