ConfusedAboutEnergy.co.uk

Once you have purchased your dishwasher there are ways in which you can minimise the cost of running your machine:-

• Only run the dishwasher when it is full. Running a 12 place setting machine ¾ full every time will mean more cycles and cost up to £ 12 a year more.
• Use the economy programme whenever you can. Consult your manual to ensure you know which one this is.
• Don’t rinse your dishes before loading them in the machine, particularly in hot water. This will use more energy and increase your bills. Just scrape the dirty dishes; the dishwashers’ job is to clean them!

There are some easy ways in which you can reduce the running costs of your TV:-

• Turn the TV off when it's not being used
  This seems obvious but many people leave the TV on as background when it’s not being watched or there’s nobody in the room.
• Don’t leave the TV on stand by
  TVs still consume power in standby mode although it's only a fraction of what they use when they're actually on. On many TVs the on/off button on the set itself does not turn it off altogether but leaves the TV on standby. Turn it off at the plug to be sure or buy a StandBy Saver
• Turn off the Quick Start option
  Some TVs have a Quick Start option which turns the TV on more quickly when you press the power button. However this feature consumes significantly more power during standby. You can wait a few extra seconds for the TV to warm up and save some money!
• Turn down the backlight
  Some LCD TVs enable you to adjust the backlight. By turning down the backlight you'll lower power consumption but also make the TV less bright. This can actually improve image quality.
• Reduce light output with other settings
  Another way to reduce the light output and the running cost of your TV is to adjust the "contrast" or "picture" controls to reduce brightness. Lowering the brightness can improve picture quality however the room lighting will need to be lower (this will also save you money!)

Tips for reducing the running costs of your fridge/freezer

• Place the fridge in a cool well ventilated position out of direct sunlight and away from a heat source such as an oven.
• For greatest efficiency set refrigerators at 4ºC and freezers at -18º C (or as close as you can get)
  
• Avoid frost build up by defrosting regularly.
• Avoid leaving the door open and ensure door seals are working properly. To test this place a piece of paper in the door seal when it closes. If the paper is held firmly, the seal is sound.
• Keep freezer compartments full! Fill any unused space with scrunched up newspaper.
• Don't put warm food in the fridge; let it cool-off outside first. This avoids the fridge from having to use extra energy to keep the temperature low.
• Keep exposed coils at the back free from dust and fluff. Accumulation of dust on condenser coils can increase energy consumption by up to 30%.

Tumble dryers are probably the most energy hungry of all domestic appliances. To dry a full load of washing will cost in the region of 50pence , therefore the less you use it the more money you will save. The table below shows the annual running costs of a tumble dryer for different rates of usage.

There is over £ 100 difference a year in your electricity bill if you use your machine once per week as opposed to 5 times a week. You can save £ 26 per year just by using it once less per week.  So air dry, either in doors or outside whenever you can!
If you do use your tumble dryer then you can minimise energy costs in the following ways:-
•    Part dry your clothes in the tumble dryer, finish them off on a clothes horse or washing line.
•    Clean the filter after every use.
•    Dry loads in batches to make the most of the heat in the machine, it may slightly reduce drying time.

We are often told to only use as much water as we need in a kettle and not to fill it to the top, but what are the potential annual saving in doing this. Well it takes roughly 4.5 minutes to boil a full (2 litre) kettle with a power rating of 3KW (kilowatts).  The table shows how this converts to cost for a full and for a half kettle operated twice a day for a full year.

Well There it is, a full year of operating a kettle in this way should save you about £ 7.75.   Less than you might image but if you are a real tea fiend and boil it 4 times a day you would double the saving!    Every little counts.