Deals expert shares hacks for saving on your energy bills

To lend a helping hand, award-winning money influencer Chloe Carmichael, better known as Chloe’s Deal Club on her social channels and website, has shared her top tips and products for managing your heating to keep costs down.

1. Use heated products to heat you, not the home

A heated throw, duvet or mattress topper are all brilliant ways to stay warm over the colder months without heating the entire home. Not only are they energy-efficient, but they are much cheaper to run and mean you don’t need to turn on your central heating or have it on high temperatures while in use.

Dreamland has a brilliant selection of heated products to choose from, costing as little as 1p per hour to run (precise cost to run per night/per use will be dependent on domestic electricity prices at the time of use). Not only that, but they take just five minutes to heat up and use Intelliheat+ technology which adapts to your body temperatures, along with the ambient temperature of the room to create the optimum heat whilst also ensuring efficient power consumption.

I recently trialled turning off my heating for an entire weekend, which was a challenge living in Scotland in December. I kept warm with only these heated products from Dreamland, and I was amazed by the results. Not only was I extremely warm and cosy, but I saved £6.75 on my heating bill that weekend alone.

Of course, I wouldn’t recommend turning your heating off entirely for winter, but this trial showed how heated products are a great way to localise heat instead of heating larger areas in your home and allow you to be more sensible with the thermostat, so I can’t recommend these products enough.

Based on my energy tariff at the time of my trial, the heated throw only cost me 7p per hour and the underblanket cost 5p per hour to run. We all know heated products were a great way to save money, but when you take a few moments to actually crunch the numbers and compare them to your heating bill it really hits home how big a saving you can make.

What I love about Dreamland is the variety and practicality of the heated items available, such as their unique heated duvet. You can use the duvet all year, but when it gets to the colder winter months simply attach the Intelliheat controller and the duvet will be warm in just 5 minutes.

2. Lower your thermostat temperature

For times when you need to have your central heating on, lowering your thermostat by even one or two degrees can make a noticeable difference to your heating bill. If you stay layered up, the drop in temperature won’t make a significant difference to your warmth and comfort levels but will make a noticeable difference to your annual bill. The savings from adjusting the temperature will add up over time making this a simple but effective tactic. The government does recommend 18C as the minimum temperature for households, however older people or those suffering from illness may need it higher.1

3. Turn radiators down or off in the rooms you use least

Instead of heating your entire house, consider only turning on your radiators in the rooms you use most, or turning them to low in the rooms you don’t. Radiators are easy to switch on and off thanks to their valves, so if you do want to use a particular room where you’ve turned them off, just make sure to turn them on a few hours in advance to build the heat to at least 18C as the recommended room temperature.

4. Schedule your thermostat

Using the timer on your thermostat is a great way to schedule your heating to come on and off when you need it to. A lot of thermostats nowadays link to apps on your phone, making it easier than ever to set a schedule for your heating – it’s been a game changer for me to easily manage my heating. This helps to reduce monthly bills as it means you’re only heating your home when you need it to.

Make sure if you’ve been away, you set your heating to come on at least half a day in advance so you’re not coming back to an extremely cold house.

5. Close curtains and blinds

Keeping your curtains and blinds closed when your heating is on is a great way to keep the heat in and warm up your home. With days shorter and nights longer over the winter months, it’s the perfect excuse to get cosy at home and keep the heat in. Closing doors will also help to trap heat too and is an easy tactic to implement.

6. Draught proof windows and doors

Even though I’m in a new build home, my front door is very draughty which makes the hallway the coldest part of our house. I recently hung up a thermal lined curtain at my front door using the viral tension pole hack and could instantly feel the difference be reducing the draughts.

Check around your windows and doors to see if there’s any gaps which you can seal to prevent the cold coming in. You could even consider adding a thermal lining behind your curtains which simply clips onto your curtain pole.

7. Check your tariff

Knowing what tariff you’re on can help save you money in two ways: by making sure you’re using it efficiently, and by making sure you’re on the best available rate.

For example, if you’re on an Economy 7 tariff, you’ll have cheaper electricity rates during the night and more expensive rates in the day. So if you make the most of the cheaper rates, it could save you money but if you’re using the bulk of your energy during peak hours it could actually end up costing you more.

If you do decide to move supplier after researching tariffs, it’s worth checking with your friends and family to see if the supplier you plan to move to has a refer a friend scheme so you can both get a little monetary bonus.

And there you have it, my top tips to reduce your energy bills this winter whilst staying warm.