8 Tips to Save Energy When Working from Home

This post was featured by Twinkl in their Cost of Living Crisis blog.

If you’re one of the many educators working from home due to a change in your organisation’s business model then you may have noticed that your energy bills have crept up.

Whilst there is not much you can do about the current cost of living crisis, there is plenty you can do to cut the cost of your gas and electricity bills by becoming more energy efficient. Find out how with these top energy-saving tips from Compare The Market: 

1) Use a smart power strip

Did you know, the average household is said to waste as many as 7,374 hours of electricity every year when a device is left on standby?

When we are stuck at home, especially over the winter, we’re bound to be using our electronic devices more often. Whether that’s while you work, or just because you’re binging the latest TV hit. It’s natural to leave the likes of laptops, phones, televisions, routers and even printers turned on in the background.

A smart power strip is the perfect way to combat these lost minutes. This device lets you choose what you want to keep on or turn off at any given time. That means you can easily prioritise what you do and don’t want to keep running.

2) Try to structure your day

Setting a schedule for your day may not feel like it will have much of an impact on your energy consumption, but you might be surprised. It’s easy to work longer hours than normal when working from home. Setting a time when you turn all your devices off won’t just be good for your work-life balance but will help you cut down on energy too.

If you’re struggling to work out how you can manage your own time, consider:

• Setting up a separate workspace that is away from everything else in your house
• Create time to work without devices such as marking workbooks
• Making your schedule clear to the rest of your household, so they know not to disturb you at certain times

3) Set streaming guidelines

Streaming is a great way to wind down, but it can be easy to lose track of time. This won’t only affect your energy bills, but can also make your internet slower – not what you need when you’re trying to teach students remotely!

Looking for more tips to slash your energy use on streaming? Here some other ways you could cut back costs:

• Use low-powered devices. Consider watching TV shows on a more energy efficient device like a laptop or tablet.
• Change screen settings. You can turn down the brightness and volume of your device to save on power. Streaming at a lower resolution will also help, though this may affect your viewing experience.

4) Be smart with your radiators

As the weather gets colder, you might be tempted to keep your heating running through the day. However, this could make a huge difference to your energy usage.

If you’re feeling the chill, try heating only the rooms being worked in? Simply turn the off the valves on all the radiators in unused rooms. That way, you can beat the chill with minimum impact to your bills.

5) Make the most of natural light

If you’re spending more time working from home, it’s likely you’ll have the lights switched on more than usual. But you don’t always need electricity to get the best lighting.

Make the most of natural light in your home by setting up your office in the room that gets the most daylight. Open the blinds and curtains and let the sunshine in. You’d be surprised how quickly your eyes can adjust to natural light, even if it seems a bit dim at first.

Also be sure to turn off the lights in any rooms which you aren’t using. Daylight is free, after all.

6) Swap to energy-saving bulbs

If you do have to turn the lights on, particularly in the afternoon, make sure you’re using energy-saving bulb. Both Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) and Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are more efficient than halogen lights with LEDs being the most efficient of all. Replacing a halogen light bulb with an LED of the same brightness could save you up to £2 a year, depending on your tariff.

You may not want to replace all your bulbs at the same time, particularly as they now last so much longer. So why not swap the bulbs in the rooms that you spend the most time in first – whether that’s because you’re working from home or because you’re not out and about so much in the evenings – and replace the others as they wear out.

And remember, just flicking off the light switch every time you leave a room is an easy money saver.

7) Use timers and dimmers

Using timer and dimmer devices will have a positive effect not only during lockdown, but once the pandemic is over too! You can set these devices to sync up with your lights and other electronics, allowing them to turn off automatically.

8) Use a laptop at home

Working from home has become the norm for a lot of people during lockdown and tier restrictions. If this is you, you’re probably using either a laptop or desktop during that time – though you should know, one is a lot more efficient than the other.

Your laptop will use just 75 kWh per year, while a desktop can eat up as much as 194 kWh. What’s more, using a laptop will also give you the freedom to work wherever you want in the house helping you make the most of natural light or hiding from your family to give you some peace and quiet! 

Original article “21 useful tips to save on energy bills during coronavirus” posted on Compare The Market. 

When you’re spending even more time than ever at home it’s important not to forget the simple energy saving basics. Here are 10 easy ways to reduce your energy consumption to protect the environment and the money in your bank account too!