Britons could save up to £200 on energy bills with four TikTok household hacks | Personal Finance | Finance
The average household energy bill is set to rise a further 20 percent in April 2023. Finance expert Gabriel Nussbaum has shared four household hacks to help Britons reduce their annual spend by as much as £200.
Gabriel’s video comes following the news that energy bills for the typical household are set to increase to £3,000 as of April 2023. He shared his tips in a video posted on his TikTok page @gabriel.nussbaum, which currently has 1.3M followers.
He explained: “This is how you can save £200 off your energy bills. Here are four ways to save money from the lowest amount to the highest.”
His first recommendation is to switch off your lights when you are leaving a room, so as not to waste electricity. Gabriel explained: “Turning off the lights when you leave the room could save you £20.”
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As well as light switches, Gabriel also recommends turning off appliances at the plug socket when you are not using them. Often, devices left on standby can zap vast amounts of energy, despite not being in use.
This is why they are often referred to as “vampire devices”. According to British Gas research, switching off so-called vampire devices could save an average of £147 per year.
Based on research conducted on appliances in 2019, British Gas adapted the figures to account for changing prices, in which households would save around £55 per year by switching off all their devices when not in use. In his video, Gabriel said: “Turning your appliances from the switch could save you £55.”
Brian Horn, a senior insight and analytics consultant at the EST, said: “If something doesn’t need to be on, then you should switch it off at the wall or unplug it.
“Everything else, just try and make it as easy as possible to turn it off.”
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One of the biggest energy-gobbling appliances in the dryer, and according to Gabriel it could be well worth it to find new ways of drying your clothes. “To save £60 a year, stop using the dryer,” he said.
On average, Uswitch estimates a tumble dryer uses roughly 4.5 kWh of energy per cycle. Each kWh of energy you use costs approximately 14.37p, which means it will cost you roughly 67p per cycle.
However, purchasing a more energy-efficient tumble dryer could drive costs down. Heat pump tumble dryers are typically cheaper to run than regular condenser or vented tumble dryers, though they tend to be more expensive to buy.
As well as paying attention to washing your clothes, Gabriel also recommends being savvy about how long you spend showering. “By keeping your shower to four minutes or less you could save £70,” he said. “Make that shower cold and you’ll save even more.”
His video has currently amassed 826 “likes”, with commenters sharing their thoughts on his suggestions. Abe Bouliche recommended: “Get smart lights, all of mine are and they’re timed etcetera and energy efficient and you can turn everything off with your voice or phone! Smart plugs too.”
However, other commenters felt the hacks were not worth the hassle in relation to how much they would save. An anonymous user said: “£200 off £4,650 ain’t much. You might as well have proper showers instead of four min jail showers. Nonetheless, we appreciate the advice.” [SIC]
