You've got the Power!
Better use of energy is high on our agenda these days for good reason, with the impact of climate change and ever-increasing energy costs.
If you're living in a newly built home, you're one of the lucky ones - with hundreds of pounds of savings to be made annually across heating, hot water, and lighting in comparison to an older home.
Did you know that 8 out of 10 new build homes have an A or B rating for energy efficiency? Compare that to just 2.2% of existing properties. That’s less than 1 in 10 for most older homes.
Our new builds are constructed with energy efficiency in mind. If you’re thinking of buying a new build home you could save an average of £52 a month, or over £500 a year on energy costs. You will also save on renovations and maintenance costs and cut out the £10,000 to £40,000 worth of upgrading costs that over a third of older home owners incur.
Recent media coverage (Oct 2021) of rising energy costs has driven many to think about switching energy supplier. However, Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has offered advice that Switching will not work for most people with the following statement:
“The energy market is in extreme crisis. Wholesale gas prices (those firms pay) have risen to many times the level of last year. Much of the UK's electricity is generated by gas too. This means both gas and electricity prices for consumers have rocketed to previously unimaginable levels. For energy switching, the situation is catastrophic. Many energy firms have gone bust, and more are almost certain to follow. There are no decent tariffs left to switch to - in fact, there are few tariffs at all for new customers. Feel free to do a comparison but expect to see that you will pay more to switch. In some cases, such as if you want a very green tariff or want to lock into a fix for certainty, you may feel it's worth it. But if you're looking to cut bills now, that's unlikely to happen and you would be better off sticking with a default price-capped tariff.”
With this in mind, anything you can do to limit your energy consumption will help. Here are some useful tips for energy saving from the Energy Saving Trust.
- Switch off standby – you can save around £35 a year just by remembering to turn appliances off standby mode.
- Careful in your kitchen – you can save around £22 a year from your energy bill just by using your kitchen appliance more carefully and selectively.
- Spend less time in the shower – Spending one minute less in the shower each day will save up to £47 per year in a four-person household.
- Switch to LED’s - You can get LED spotlights that are bright enough to replace halogens, as well as regular energy saving bulbs. If the average household replaced all their bulbs with LED’s it would save £30 a year on bills. So, the purchase costs of the bulbs are a sound investment.
- Also, did you know that if you switch a light off for just a few seconds, you will save more energy than it takes for the light to start up again, regardless of the type of light.
- If you’re living in an older property and fancy making the switch to new, then you may want to browse our collection of homes here, which have been expertly designed to maximise natural heat and sunlight, helping you reduce your energy consumption to protect your wallet and help the environment.