The clocks go back! Time to start thinking about your electricity bill. Expert unveils top saving tips!

James said: The end of BST is always a good indicator it's time to start thinking about proofing your home to not only keep it warm, but given the rise in energy prices also eliminate any wastage. With the dark nights coming in, here are some good methods and checks to take to ensure you're winter ready...

Use LED bulbs: 

Before it starts getting dark too early, replace any older halogen or incandescent bulbs with LEDs, particularly in the rooms that you use most. And, of course, turn lights off when you leave a room!

Stop draughts: 

It’s the ideal time of year to check windows and doors for gaps and get those fixed whether it be through appropriate sealing or the use of draught excluders. 

Make the most of daylight: 

If you fix those draughts, open curtains and blinds during the day and keep windows unobstructed to let more daylight in. This will not only reduce the amount of artificial lighting you’ll need, but it can help heat the room. Even in the winter, the sun can help heat a room.

Close the curtains as the sun goes down to trap that natural heat in, as well as when the heating or fire goes on.

Set heating efficiently: 

Lowering the thermostat even by just 1°C can help reduce heating costs, while still keeping your home comfortable. Timers and smart thermostats can help with that, alongside ensuring the heating isn’t running unnecessarily.

Only heat the rooms you actually use: 

In the rooms you’re heating, keep doors closed to retain the heat. Turn off the heating in spare rooms and those not being used, or use your radiator controls to do this. 

Don't block radiators: 

What’s more, don’t block radiators. You need the heat to circulate as effectively as possible to heat the home and furniture in front of it or clothes drying on top will prevent this.

Wash clothes at lower temperatures: 

Outside of heating, we do use other appliances more. We wear more layers and that means more washing. Wash your clothes at a lower temperature and save washing for full loads to save energy. Usually a 30°C wash is sufficient.

Avoid tumble-drying when possible: 

Air-drying clothes indoors or even outdoors on dry days can significantly reduce the electricity usage that is needed for tumble-drying.

Keep hot-water use down: 

A long, hot shower can be appealing on those cold winter mornings, but actually, shorter and unnecessarily high hot-water temperatures can save on your gas and electricity.

Check your energy settings: 

Finally, if you do have a smart meter, take the time to do a bit of analysis. Look at your usage during the darker evenings and identify appliances or heating periods that are consuming more energy than you expected. You can then make a call on what to do about that, whether it be turning things off or making tweaks to maximise efficiency.

What you should look to do is set your heating and lighting to your routine rather than simply putting everything on when you get home from work until bedtime. This small change repeated right throughout the winter can actually add up to some savings.