KEEP TOASTY WITH THESE WINTER ENERGY SAVING TIPS.

Most of us will notice larger power bills during winter as we spend more time indoors, using more energy heating our homes and keeping ourselves entertained.

Here are four steps to banish the cold weather blues and reduce of your energy usage.

1. Keep an Eye on Your Heat Pump and Heater

There are few things better than curling up under a nice, toasty heat pump. Although it’s tempting to blast your heater at max power, it might impact your power bill. Luckily, there are a few easy ways to keep you both toasty and on top of your usage.

Make use of timer settings on your heat pump and turn it on just before you wake up or get home so that you can switch it off when you don’t need it. And did you know, the sweet spot for the thermostat is between 19ºC and 21ºC? This keeps away the dampness but is enough to also save power. Plus, it’s good to keep things consistent because changing between hot and cold settings can cause your heat pump to waste energy. It’s always a good idea to regularly clean your heat pump filter so it’s not working harder than necessary and lastly, make sure to only heat rooms you’re using.

2. Be Smarter with Your Hot Water Usage

Heating water is around a third of the average Kiwi home’s energy usage, and we tend to use more in winter. Here are a few things you can do to keep your hot water usage in check.

Ease your tap flow. If your shower fills a 10-litre bucket in under a minute, it’s wasting water. Replacing your shower head with one that better controls flow can significantly reduce how much hot water you use. Add flow control aerators to taps you don’t use much as well. These don’t cost much and can be found at your local hardware store.

Get smart with a thermostat. Add one of these to your hot water cylinder to map your hot water usage and turn your cylinder down or off when you’re not home. Make sure you talk to your electrician about which one is best for your hot water and connection capabilities. Ask your builder about wrapping your hot water cylinder and pipes to keep the heat in for longer. Note that you can’t do this if you’re using a gas hot water system.

3. Invest in Energy Efficient Curtains and Blinds

Some older Kiwi homes are notorious for their cold, damp conditions. Ensuring your home is prepared to withstand winter’s wrath can both decrease your power consumption and have significant health benefits.

As the temperature drops, you’re likely to find yourself dialing up the heaters to stay toasty and warm. You may be shocked to learn that a home without curtains can lose upwards of 45% of heat through its windows, meaning that some of that precious heating is quite literally going out the window!

Which curtains work best? Choose heavy lined and floor-length. These have an extra layer of fabric rather than thin plastic coating. Floor length curtains help reduce the reverse chimney effect. This happens when cold air, cooled by glass sinks to the floor, drawing more warm air from above your curtains, which causes a draught. Covering the top of your curtains helps too. A neat trick from our friends at Consumer NZ is to roll up a blanket and place it above your curtain rail. If you prefer blinds, honeycomb ones are the best, followed by sill-length roman blinds. Make sure they’re a close fit over your window frames to block out that reverse chimney effect.

4. Make It a Habit, Turn Appliances Off

All this extra time at home during winter naturally means extra power being used, but if you play it smart you can minimize the potential increase in cost. One quick way of doing this is by making sure appliances and lights are turned off when not in use. Contrary to popular belief, the little red light doesn’t mean that a device is turned off; in most cases, it’s in standby mode.

Even on standby, your appliance is still switched on, which means you’re paying for electricity. Likewise, you’ll be using the lights in your home for a good 2-4 hours more in winter than you would in summer. The more lights you leave on, the bigger the difference in energy usage you’ll see. It may not seem like much at first but remember that little costs can add up over time! Lastly, switch it LED lights if you haven’t already.