2022, never a more important time to save energy

12 Top Tips in 2022 for Saving Money on Energy Bills

With Bord Gais announcing a 27%  increase in electricity prices from April and a 38% increase in gas prices and with oil prices currently at an all time  high finding ways to conserve energy and save money has never been more important than in it now in 2022.

 

Below we provide our top 12 tips to help you reduce your energy usage and thus save money on energy bills.

 

Tip 1 – How to deal with Chimney Draughts – Chimney Balloons – Lighting an open fire is not as common as it once was in Ireland but if you have an unused fire-place it can be a source of unnecessary down draughts which will make it more difficult to heat your home. Whilst imitation products have been made in recent years the original chimney balloon available in Ireland from Purchase.ie is by fair the most effective tailor made product to insulate your fireplace and prevent downdraughts.

If you use your fireplace regularly but your fire is affected by either down draughts or up draughts installing a H Cowl is likely to rectify this issue.

 

Tip 2 – How to get more out of your radiators – Radfan – A complete game changer when it comes to heating your home. The Radfan which comes in two different sizes sits on top of your radiators and blows the heat into the centre of the room ensuring the room heats up faster and you don’t need to run your central heating radiators for as long each day.

Reflective foil installed behind your radiators helps heat from the radiator reflect back into the room as opposed to being wasted by heat lose through the wall. Choose either the economically priced  exitex radiator reflective foil or thermflect which is a more padded version of reflective foil.

 

Tip 3 – How to get more out of your Stove – Stove Fan – Similar to the Radfan the stove fan works on the same principle. As your stove gets hotter the blades on the stove fan rotate and blow the hot air into the centre of the room and thus the room will heat up faster and be more comfortable to relax in on cold winter nights.

 

Tip 4 – Educate yourself in wasted energy using electricity monitors –  It has never been a more important time to understand your energy usage and get a handle on potential wastage. A plug in energy monitor will help you monitor the energy costs associated with individual electrical appliances whilst the Efergy Engage Hub (currently on special offer) will give you a breakdown of both the real time energy usage and the amount you have used since you last reset it for the whole house. It even allows you to monitor energy usage when you are not  site through an App.

Tip 5 – Insulate window glass on old windows – Replacing windows can be a costly business and Window Glazing Film is a great temporary solution for anyone on a budget  looking to add a layer of insulation to their windows and conserve energy in their home.

 

Tip 6 – Insulate around window and door frames – We supply a wide range of insulation products manufactured in Co Louth by Irish company Exitex. Insulation foam and rubber strips offer a great solution in preventing draught emanating from window frame and door frame area.

Tip 7 – Insulate under doors – We have three great products for addressing the issue of under door draughts. The Door seal from Ecosavers is an adhesive rubber strip you simply cut to size and stick at the bottom of your door. Exitex meanwhile have an under door foam draught excluder which is fitted on to the frame at the bottom of the door or brush strips which are screwed in at the bottom of frame of the door.

Tip 8 – Insulate around letterbox – A letterbox can also be a culprit when it comes to draughts. This issue can be address through an Exitex Letter Box Brush with flap or through the Innovative Magflap which will not open and close an be a noise and draught hazard even when weather is extremely windy.

Tip 9 – Top up your attic insulation – We suggest you try a non toxic eco solution called SupaSoft insulation which is made from recycled plastic bottles and will be available shortly from Purchase.ie. Call us on 066 7136486 for further information

Tip 10 – Clean Chimney Flue Regularly – As well as helping to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning and avoiding chimney fires a regular clean will also increase heating efficiency. Our popular Smartsweep rotary chimney cleaning kit allows you to attach to drill and easily clean from your fireplace as opposed to climbing up on the roof. A more basic and more economically priced chimney cleaning kit is also available. A chimney cleaning log is another potential solution.

 

Tip 11 – Move over to a more economical heating solution – Over the last few years Far Infrared Heating is growing more and more popular. Not only is it economical (some of these heaters only cost about 6 cent for hour to run) but it is also a very comfortable heating system which now keeps hundreds of Purchase.ie customers warm and cosy all winter long.

The smallest option is the 360W heater which effectively heats an area of up to 7 Square Meters, the 600W heater will heat an area of up to 12 Square Meters and the 750W heater up to 14 Square Meters . We also have a couple of mirror versions of the far infrared heater a 360W Round Mirror Heater and a 560W Mirror heater which comes with an integrated LED backlight

Electric Hot Water bottles are also a very economical heating source and eliminate your chances of getting scalded which is always a risk when filling up traditional hot water bottles.

Tip 12- Measure your energy consumption and use smart plugs and timers to control appliances –

These Smart Wifi plugs allow you to turn on and off appliances at any time through an APP even when you are not on site. It can be set up to be worked through Alexa or Google Play also thus making it voice controlled for turning on and off. There is also more traditional options for controlling your appliances like this digital plug in timer and a digital plug in thermostat specifically for use with heating products.