Tell E.ON what your energy saving tips are - an iPad Air to be won! NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

We have been asked by the team at E.ON to find your best energy saving tips - relating specifically to gadget use. This comes following new research from E.ON has uncovered that UK parents now spend almost £300 per household on gadgets for their kids each year.

E.ON know that with technology playing an increasingly significant role in family life – from helping the kids with their homework to listening to the latest music – there’s rarely a time when a gadget isn’t on the go. However, their research shows that under half of parents (44%) consider the impact their gadget use could be having on their energy bills.

That’s why E.ON is working with Mumsnet to highlight their Saving Energy Toolkit, which enables E.ON customers to monitor how much energy their family is using – and compare it to similar homes in their local area. E.ON’s research found that eight in 10 parents find gadgets useful in running their households.

The E.ON Saving Energy Toolkit also contains tips to save energy, and they are now keen to know more about the ways parents stay savvy with their energy use. Whether it’s getting the family to watch TV together – so multiple devices aren’t used in one go, or ways to incentivise children to turn off their bedroom lights, E.ON want to know how your family uses no more energy that it needs to. What are your tips to save energy? Please share them on this thread.

Everyone who posts a tip on this thread will be entered into a prize draw, where one winner will receive an 16GB iPad air worth £399.

Please note your comments may be included on E.ON’s social media channels, and possibly elsewhere, so please only post if you're comfortable with this.

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

P.S. Please click here for the terms and conditions of this thread.

I've taught my eldest to turn off lights when he leaves the room. Now, just need to teach the husband to do the same...

Always turn off lights when not in the room
Keep the freezer well filled as empty freezers are expensive to run.
Quick showers daily, a long hot bath once a week as a treat.
Only use tumble drier if it's raining, washing goes on the line even if it will take all day to get it dried.
Use slow cooker instead of the oven when possible.
Wash most clothes at 40 degree wash, unless items are filthy they come out clean.
Put a cardigan on before putting the heating on (both my teen girls moan about being cold whilst sat in vest tops, it drives me mad)
I brush my teeth while showering, this is mainly to save time but it must save energy too

Take meter reading on the first day of the month (kids help me) and we try and beat our last month's record.

Use slow cooker where possible.

If you have an immersion heater try to put it on for a maximum of 30 mins a day - I cut my bills down from £100 to £30pm by doing just that!! (It was previously on 24/7 - I had no idea how energy-guzzling it was)

Swop bulbs for energy saving ones.

On winter evenings, congregate in one room so as to save having lights and heaters on all over the house.

Oh and ..... if cooking pasta, rice etc on hob put salt in coz salt water boils at 78 degrees one of the few things I remember from Science lessons

Everyone watches tv together in one room.
Gadgets off an hour before bedtime.
No lights on through night.
Thermostat set a couple of degrees lower than usual in winter.
Wear socks in bed in winter!

Don't leave your TV on standby.

Energy saving lightbulbs throughout the house.

Cook en mass, freeze leftovers and nuke in the microwave as and when you need them. This way you only need to use the oven once.

Place a cardboard covered with foil down the back of your radiator, it helps to divert any heat out of the wall and into the room.

Thick curtains help to stop heat from escaping through the windows.

Only boil the minimum amount of water in a kettle that you need. It takes more energy to boil it when it's full.

Turn off lights if you leave a room.

Turn your thermostat down a couple of degrees. You won't be able to tell but it will save you loads. Use a timer too.

Defrost your freezer regularly. It's more efficient to run if there's no ice build up.

Write a list of the contents of your fridge and place it on the front along with their used by dates. You'll know exactly what's in there so you won't need to keep opening the door (which warms the fridge each time so uses up more energy to put it back to the correct temperature). Cross them off as you use them, which will help the next time you go shopping as you'll know what's in there and what needs replacing.

Wash your clothes at the minimum temperature.

Shower rather than bathe.

Make sure your loft insulation is thick.

Use and heat one room in the winter during the day and spend most of your time in there. It costs less to heat one room than it does to hear a whole house. Leave the central heating off until bed time.

Use hot water bottles at night and keep your thermostat low to make sure your water pipes don't freeze. You can buy foam covers for them too.

I follow everyone around turning off lights and moaning about Blackpool Illuminations!! I am also a huge Scrooge when it comes to putting the heating on. If there aren't icicles hanging off your nose, put a cardi/jumper on.

Turn off the lights when you leave a room.
I rarely wash above 40°, sadly it is even rarer clothes are unsoiled to be done at 30.
Only boil a full kettle if you need all the water.
No tumble dryer .
Low energy light bulbs.
Turn devices off standby. I have an eon power saving adaptor that switches the television off if not in use
I try to have the heating a degree or two lower than comfortable at night, as in need thick pjs and a nlanket as well as the duvet.

Wash at 30 degrees
Make family dress appropriately for season-yes DD I do mean you wandering around the house in November wearing a t shirt and shorts and moaning that you're cold!

We're not going to let the boys have televisions in their bedrooms. We only have one TV in the house.

Nothing left on standby and all chargers unplugged when not in use.
Washing dried outside.
Wear suitable clothing - we all wear jumpers or fleeces in winter.
Batch cook and freeze extra.
Line your curtains.
Pull curtains before it gets dark to help conserve heat.
In winter don't stand talking at the front door with it open allowing heat to escape - either end the conversation or invite them in!

I've taught the kids to turn off lights when they leave a room.
we have energy saving bulbs.
I keep the freezer full.
I fill the washing machine up so I'm doing less loads and if its a really sunny day I will decrease the spin.
I turn the tv off at the main every night.
as soon as phones and gadgets are fully charged I unplug them.

We're with Eon. Things we do to save energy:
*Heating on a timer Nov-Feb
*We don't have a dishwasher or tumble drier (we use the laundrette during winter months & line dry the rest of the time)
*If we're all in the same room -which is generally the case in the afternoons/early mornings- then lights are on only in that room, unless bathroom or kitchen is also being used.
*Heating is on at 18 degrees mid winter unless it's particularly cold, then we put it up by a degree or two
*Mobile phone chargers on once a day in the evening.
*TV goes off if no one watching; we're trying to reduce screen time in a household for other reasons but saving on energy would be an added bonus.
*All our curtains are lined (most are thermal)
*Everything gets washed at 30degrees

Line dry whenever possible, and use a slow spin when there's decent drying weather (less energy used by the washing machine and less ironing needed).

We wash clothes at 30 or 40 and never use a drier, just the washing line or the airer indoors.

The TV is never left on standby and phone chargers are all turned off/unplugged when not in use or phones are charged.

We all have cosy slippers and wear dressing gowns in the evening/first thing in the morning.

It's not done intentionally to save energy or money, but I usually end up sharing my shower with DD1.

We have just got a smart meter and I hope it's going to help us remember to do the simple things like turning off lights and chargers when not in use and get out of the habit of putting things on standby!

And as far as gadgets go, we share a tv and laptop so that as well as saving energy we aren't all isolated on different devices. It works with young children - I think as they get older we'll have to limit time on gadgets.

For gadgets we only leave them to charge as long as they need charging rather than (for example) leaving them plugged in overnight.

Really basic stuff too but we also turn computers and my husband's tablet off rather than leave on standby.

Dont leave gadgets on standby
Play computer games together as a family so only one devise is on at a time
Only one tv on at a time all watching a dvd together
Make sure ever thing is turned off before you go to bed

Keep reminding everyone to turn lights off, use a power strip with individual buttons for each device, close curtains in winter to keep warmth in, don't use a microwave or tumble dryer- biggest users of energy, (we seem to be unique in not having either!. Have showers not baths.

Last year we bought door curtains which really make a difference. We time the teenagers in the shower and they are all trained to turn of lights.

We turn everything off if it's not in use.
Quick washes for most things.
Line dry or a trip to the local launderette in the middle of winter if I get overwhelmed by wet washing.
Boil water in the kettle before cooking pasta etc.
Insulation.
Train DH and DDs to not be wasteful
Avoid ironing.
Check I am on the right tariff frequently and haggle.
Use the heating only when necessary- we wear layers, slippers, snuggle on the sofa under blankets etc. That said, I won't go so far as to be cold at home to save money.

Turn things off
Reduce water heating time
Turn the thermostat down
Jumpers/fleece/slippers on before heating goes on
We use a dehumidifier to dry washing when it can't go outside - I can do 5 loads overnight without the house getting damp

Turn off everything not in use.

Turn oven off five mins before food needs to come out. It retains more than enough heat to finish cooking.

Quick showers.

Keep doors shut to keep heat in, use heating in thirty min blasts to just take the chill off.