I can’t think what possibly gave me the idea to look for ways to save money on my energy bills by looking for a lagging jacket or hot water tank jacket for my hot water tank this afternoon, but as I was looking out on the rain soaked garden from my home office window the thought just came to me. Funny that.

While I browsed the  Hot Water Tank Jackets At B&Q’s Website I began to wonder what else you could do to cut the costs of heating your hot water.  I clearly have too little to do this afternoon, because the ideas came to me very quickly!

First of all there is the pipes from the tank to the tap – put some whacking big insulation or  Pipe Wrap on them and then you can reduce the timer on the water heater to start saving money. Plus because the water is hotter you would need less of it for your bath as well.

Now you may think that the only other options are to start installing some major DIY projects like solar water heaters (largely a waste of money at the stupid prices being charged for what is essentially a very basic piece of technology) or upgrading to a better boiler or pump (yes, apparently the right hot water pump for your radiators will save you money too), but you’d be wrong.

Check out the web or pop into any DIY shop like B&Q, Focus, Homebase or Wickes and you’ll find Radiator foil that will reflect heat back into the room.  It doesn’t give you more hot water out of the tap for less, but if your central heating is on a thermostat you’ll end up warming up the room quicker and spend less gas or electricity heating the water in the radiators.

Although there may be other quick options available to you that for a modest expense of around £200-£250 can give you a much bigger energy saving.

Use Save Energy and the Energy Saving Trust to find out how much fuel you are wasting every day. They have vast selection of energy savings tips.

Reasons NOT to use their site:
Some tips require you to spend money to save money, where as others demand a very strict change in habbits.

Reasons why you should use the site anyway:
Good sources for energy saving tips that ultimately will save you money.

In the long term, changing habbits is the ONE thing that will solve your financial problems. This could be an easy introduction to change if for instance all you tell yourself to do is use the TV off button every evening.

Now take action:
Visit  Save Energy and the Energy Saving Trust and pick one single energy savings tip that you think you can do. Just keep it simple. If you try too much it’s easy to loose focus. The Best Trick we found is to just tell yourself to try if for a little while. Your goal is to develop the habbit of thinking about saving energy. What you start with is irrelevant.

Do This NOW: