Energy saving for the Elderly

Many energy saving guides are written for the more nimble property owners, who can perform minor DIY tasks in order to save electricity, such as installing small solar panels or installing LED lightbulbs. This guide goes against that and is aimed towards elderly people wanting to save on their electricity bill.

Let’s start with electric heating.

The standard of electric blankets has risen quite a lot over the past few years. Most of them now operate at much lower voltage, which in it’s own right makes the electric blanket much safer as use less electricity. However, there are still savings to be made.

At night it gets cold, and having extra electric heaters running is very expensive. So try pre-heating your bed with an electric blanket – but put it on an electrical timer switch. Have it turn off perhaps a few hours after you have gone to bed – this will make sure the blanket isn’t on all night.

If you have storage heaters then make sure you’re on an electricity tariff that isn’t too expensive. As storage heaters recharge throughout the night, it’s important that you are on an Economy 7 tariff. This tariff means that you get 7 hours of cheaper electricity at night – ideal for recharging your storage heaters. You can find more information on storage heaters here.

Lighting

Changing lightbulbs in the ceiling can be fairly physically demanding, especially if you have to climb a step ladder to do so. So focus on table lamps and floor standing lamps that are easier to reach. With these – look to replace their bulbs with either energy saving bulbs, or even better – LED bulbs.

LED bulbs use a very small amount of electricity, and will last for much longer than other types of bulb. You can buy them on Amazon, they do cost a bit more than their standard energy saving and halogen alternatives but they will last a lot longer.

Remember to turn lights off when you don’t need them to be on. It’s easy to forget that lights have been switched on in rooms that you don’t spend much time in.

Electrical appliances

A lot of savings can be made through using your electrical appliances such as your TV and washing machine wisely.

With your washing machine, firstly run colder washes. 60c washes can come down to 40. If your washing machine is new enough you should also be able to run more economical washes that wash your clothes quicker and use less electricity and water.

Dishwashers are much the same, on more modern models you can run lighter washes to save energy. However, we generally do advise people to run dishwashers less often – but run a full load to avoid having to use your dishwasher multiple times.

Your television and digi-box can be guilty of increasing your electricity bills. Leaving these items on stand-by is the main cause of this. So the simple thing to do is to turn the appliances off at the mains when you’re done with them.

Finally, a great tip for cooking with your electric oven is to turn it off around 3 – 5 minutes before your food is cooked. Providing the oven door is keeping the heat in, the retained heat will continue to cook your food!