With the cold spell set to return, fuel prices at record high and the cost of food rising steadily, now is the time to start thinking about ways you can save money. Nigel Berman, founder of www.nigelsecostore.com says that with a little effort and some small investments, especially when it comes to home heating, people can make a sizeable dent in their household bills.
From heating and laundry to cleaning and saving water, Nigel and his team have come up with a few ideas that can help you save money and a range of products that start at just £1.99 that you can buy from www.nigelsecostore.com. None of the products require any expert help to use or install, so there is no excuse! For more details on how you can save over £500, check out the money-saving page.
Nigel said: “In this very tough economic climate, people are really interested in reducing their bills – if they are also doing something to reduce their CO2 emissions as a result, it's an eco bonus.”
Heat loss
One of the quickest ways to reduce your heating bills is to stop warm air escaping and reduce drafts, so your boiler isn’t constantly struggling to maintain the right temperature.
According to the Energy Saving Trust, 26 per cent of heat is lost through the roof, 33 per cent is lost through the walls, 18 per cent is lost through the windows, 11 per cent is lost through the floor and the door and 12 per cent is lost due to draughts and ventilation. (1)
The Trust advises investing in easy-to-fit products like insulating draught excluders for doors (the best ones simply slide under the doors) and eco flaps for letterboxes to reduce the amount of warm air escaping. There are also products available like floorboard gap insulation.
Nigel’s Eco Store’s best seller is radiator boosters. They sit on top of radiators and can increase room temperature by several degrees. Innovative and lightweight, they use a small fan to draw heat from a standard radiator and distribute it more effectively into the room. It will warm the room faster, save lost energy and reduce heating bills. Running costs are about 30p per year.
Other popular products include radiator reflector panels which take just a few minutes to install and mean you are not wasting money warming up the walls. They reduce wasted heat by 40 per cent and mean you can turn your thermostat down. Just hang the panel down the back of your radiator and it will reflect the heat back into the room. Once installed radiator reflectors are invisible.
Another neat idea is double glazing film. The kit contains heat-shrinkable clear film, also known as secondary glazing film, or window insulation film. It’s an easy way to sort out draughty windows without replacing them and reduce energy bills.
[Window insulation filmhttp://www.nigelsecostore.com/acatalog/window-insulation-double-glazing-film.html] really works and is much cheaper than installing double glazing! It's also ideal if you live in a listed building or conservation area. All you need is a hairdryer and a sharp knife to install it. Typical savings are £85 per year. You can also help conserve energy by making sure you close your curtains at dusk.
Water
It is also worth thinking about water consumption and reducing the cost of washing your clothes. The average Briton uses the equivalent of 16 buckets worth of water a day. One third of this goes down the loo. (2)
There are products like the Waterpebble which can help you take shorter showers with its clever traffic-light system. It lets you know when it's time to get out of the shower, helping you to spend a little less time showering.
Waterpebble sits by the plug hole and uses green, amber and red lights to alert you to how long you've been showering. Every day this time gets shorter, helping you save water, energy and money. Spend just three and a half minutes less in the shower and save up to £180 per year for a family of four.
For kids, the Duck Eco Shower Timer is a fun way to educate and them about saving water and energy. This cute Duck Eco Shower Timer has a simple countdown and built-in alarm to help keep showers to a sensible length, saving water, energy and money.
If your toilet was installed before 2001 you should buy a Hippo Water Saver which saves water each time you flush. It costs just £1.99 and can save up to three litres of water every time you flush the toilet. In an average home, if your water is metered, Hippo Water Savers can save approximately £20 a year, with a pay-back on your initial investment within 8 to 12 weeks.
Laundry
Washing your clothes on a cold water setting or at lower temperatures will get the garments just as clean and you don’t even need to use washing powder if you use EcoBalls.
Each one contains pellets made of mineral salts that produce ionized oxygen which, combined with the movement of the balls on your clothes, penetrates deep into your washing, lifting dirt and grime away. Because there's a lot less to rinse out, you can use a shorter cycle, and wash at a lower temperature.
On the subject of laundry, if you use a tumble dryer and you're looking to save money and energy you should try Dryer Balls. They are safe, non-toxic and environmentally friendly and take 25 per cent less time, use less electricity, and they're ideal for anyone with asthma, eczema, or psoriasis.
Even better, stop using your tumble dryer and use an age-old, low-tech solution – a ceiling airer. The Sheila Maid Original Ceiling Airer dries clothes close to the ceiling so they are out of the way. Great if you don't have a garden, or for when it's cold or raining.
Cleaning
You can reduce the cost of cleaning by investing in E-cloths. These microfibre cloths don’t need creams or chemicals, you just add water. You then use them like any other cleaning cloth and their amazing microfibres collect dirt, grime and grease and even cut through dirt and limescale.
Gadgets that can help
Energy monitors and meters are becoming increasingly popular as you can see how much energy you are using and how much you can save when you switch things off. There are also gadgets like the popular Energy Wizard can save at least 10 per cent off your electricity bill. It plugs into any socket and uses a combination of filtration and correction techniques to improve the efficiency of the electrical appliances and circuits in your home.
Grow your own
Now is the time to think about growing your own and planning a vegetable patch. One packet of carrot seeds which costs around £2 can produce hundreds of carrots – and they are so much tastier. If you are short of space, there are solutions like patio planters and if you use raised beds there is no need to strain your back digging up the garden. Or it’s worth contacting your local council about an allotment. There are also schemes like Landshare which was launched by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in 2009.
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