Simple Ways to Reduce Household Energy Use This Winter

Start with the Draughts You Can Feel

Before you spend a penny on new gadgets, spend ten minutes finding out where the cold is actually getting in. Pick a windy day, walk slowly around your home, and hold the back of your hand near door frames, window edges and skirting boards. You will usually feel a tell-tale chill in the same few places in most British homes.

The usual suspects are worth checking first:

• Letterboxes, keyholes and the gaps around front and back doors
• Draughty single-glazed windows, especially in older terraces and flats
• Open chimneys and unused fireplaces
• Gaps where pipes, cables and extractor vents pass through external walls
• Skirting boards, floorboards and the join where a conservatory meets the house

None of this needs to be expensive. Brush strips, foam tape, a sausage dog draught excluder and a chimney balloon together often cost less than a takeaway for two, and they can shave a noticeable amount off your annual bill. A chimney draught excluder is particularly good value if you never light your fire. It stops warm air rushing straight up and out of the roof.

Get Smarter About Your Heating Schedule

Many households heat the house as if everyone is at home all day. Rethinking that single habit can be the biggest saving of all.

Set your thermostat to somewhere between 18°C and 21°C, and treat that number as a target rather than a starting point. Turning it up to 25°C will not warm the rooms any faster — it simply keeps the boiler running for longer. If you have a programmer or smart thermostat, set it to come on about half an hour before you get up and to switch off an hour before bed. Your home will still be warm when you need it.

Two further tweaks are worth knowing about. If you have a hot water cylinder, check that its thermostat is set to around 60°C. If you have a combi boiler, turning the flow temperature down to roughly 55°C to 60°C can make it run more efficiently, though it will take slightly longer to heat the rooms. And if radiators are warm at the bottom but cold at the top, they need bleeding — a five-minute job with a radiator key.

Cheap Insulation Wins That Pay You Back

Insulation sounds like a builder's job, but several measures are genuinely DIY-friendly.

• Radiator reflector panels fitted behind radiators on external walls bounce heat back into the room instead of warming the brickwork.
• Loft insulation should be around 270mm deep. If you can see the joists, topping it up is one of the most cost-effective things you can do.
• Cylinder jackets cost very little and keep hot water hot for longer.
• Thermal curtains or a cheap lining added to existing curtains make a real difference on single-glazed windows — just keep them open during the day to let the sun in, and draw them at dusk.

Also check that furniture, drying racks and long curtains are not blocking radiators. Trapped heat warms the sofa, not the room.

Everyday Habits That Add Up

Small routines, repeated daily, quietly move the needle on both bills and carbon.

• Shower rather than bathe, and aim for four minutes. A shower timer is a surprisingly effective motivator.
• Wash clothes at 30°C, fill the machine properly, and dry outside or on an airer where you can.
• Boil only the water you need, and put a lid on pans.
• Use a slow cooker, air fryer or microwave where it suits the meal — they use far less energy than a full oven.
• Switch appliances off at the plug rather than leaving them on standby.
• Only run the dishwasher when it is full, on an eco cycle.

Themometer on the wall trick: keep an eye on the actual temperature rather than guessing. Many of us heat rooms to 23°C without realising it.

Think Beyond Your Own Four Walls

Energy saving works better as a neighbourhood project than a solo one. A street group chat is a good place to start: several households ordering draught-proofing materials together often get a better price, and someone always has a radiator key, a drill or a spare roll of foam tape.

Skill-sharing is just as valuable. If one neighbour knows how to bleed radiators or fit a cylinder jacket, an afternoon of swapping favours can sort half the street. Some areas run tool libraries, repair cafés and warm hubs in community halls or libraries — welcoming places to spend a few hours, and a chance to check on anyone who might be struggling quietly with the cold.

Support Is There If You Need It

If money is tight, please do not simply turn the heating off and put on another jumper. Cold homes affect health, sleep and mood, and there is help available. Your energy supplier can tell you about grants, payment plans and priority support registers, and your local council can advise on winter support schemes and home insulation funding. Citizens Advice centres and local libraries can help you fill in the forms.

Start with the free draught-hunting walk, then pick one or two changes from this list. You do not need to do everything at once — a warmer, cheaper winter is built one small improvement at a time.