Big Energy Saving Week is a British campaign to help people save energy, money and the environment through everyday actions. In 2020, the campaign began on January 20.
At 22i, we don’t just desire a more sustainable energy economy, we'll help create it.
Our AI, for example, strips out much of the manual cost of safe smart meter installation - equating to unnecessary costs of $700 million in the UK alone, plus 40,000 tonnes of CO2 every single year.
As we say again and again, it's all about the triple bottom line - people, planet, profit.
On the people side, campaigns like Big Energy Savings Week help all of us reduce our energy use. So, courtesy of the Energy Savings Trust, here are some simple energy saving tips...
SWITCH OFF STANDBY
You can save around £30 a year ($39) by remembering to turn your appliances off standby mode.
Almost all electrical and electronic appliances can be turned off at the plug without upsetting their programming. You may want to think about getting a standby saver which allows you to turn all your appliances off standby in one go.
Check the instructions for any appliances you aren’t sure about. Some satellite and digital TV recorders may need to be left plugged in so they can keep track of any programmes you want to record.
IN THE KITCHEN
You can save around £36 a year ($46) from your energy bill just by using kitchen appliances more mindfully.
Use a bowl to wash up rather than a running tap and save £25 a year ($32) in energy bills.
Cutback your washing machine use by just one cycle per week and save £5 a year ($6) on energy.
Only fill the kettle with the amount of water that you need and save around £6 a year ($7).
IN THE SHOWER
Spending one minute less in the shower each day will save up to £7 a year ($9) off your energy bills, per person. With a water meter this could save a further £12 ($15) off annual water and sewerage bills.
If everyone in a four-person household did this, it would lead to a total saving of £75 a year ($97).
If you’ve got a shower that takes hot water straight from your boiler or hot water tank (rather than an electric shower), fit a water efficient shower head. This will reduce your hot water usage while retaining the sensation of a powerful shower.
A water efficient shower head could save a four person household as much as £70 a year ($91) on gas for water heating, as well as a further £115 a year ($149) on water bills if they have a water meter.
Draught-proofing is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to save energy - and money - in any type of building
Professional draught-proofing of windows, doors and blocking cracks in floors and skirting boards can cost around £200 ($260), but can save around £20 a year ($26) on energy bills. DIY draught proofing can be much cheaper.
Installing a chimney draught excluder could also save around £15 a year ($19).
Half the money spent on fuel bills goes towards providing heating and hot water.
Installing a room thermostat, a programmer and thermostatic radiator valves and using these controls efficiently could save you around £75 a year ($97).
If you already have a full set of controls, turning down your room thermostat by just one degree can save around £80 a year ($104).
If the average household replaced all of their bulbs with LEDs, it would cost about £100 ($130) and save about £35 a year ($45) on bills.
Turn your lights off when you’re not using them. If you switch a light off for just a few seconds, you will save more energy than it takes for the light to start up again, regardless of the type of light.
This will save you around £14 a year ($18) on your annual energy bills.
Smart heating controls are the latest innovation to help you control your heating and understand your energy use.
They allow you to control your heating remotely via a mobile app, meaning that you can manage the temperature of your home from wherever you are, at whatever time of day.
A smart meter with in-home display or energy monitor can help householders save energy by increasing awareness of energy use, helping to cut waste. Government estimates that a display or monitor could typically help reduce a household’s electricity use by 2.8% and gas use by 2%.
If each household in the EU and US turned off appliances in standby mode, for example, the annual cash saving alone would be almost £10.5 billion ($13.6 billion).
With just a few simple changes to our daily habits, we could save a whole lot of energy and expense.
The Energy Savings Trust tips can be found in full here.