- Christmas is almost here, bringing festive joy—and the challenge of keeping energy costs down.
- Amid rising energy prices, small changes can make a big difference in your bills this holiday season.
- To this end, check out our practical tips to save money while staying cosy and festive this Christmas.
A young girl sitting by an oven. Credit: Bizon/Freepik
Christmas is around the corner, and with it comes all the magic, the festive cheer… and the spending.
And in the middle of a cost of living and energy crisis, millions of people around the UK will consider saving money on their bills.
To help, we’ve compiled a handy guide on the top 11 ways to save on your energy bill this Christmas.
1. Turn your oven off early
The average running time for an oven on Christmas Day is five hours, using roughly 4.35 kilowatt hours of energy — that’s almost a week’s worth of cooking in a single day.
Turning the oven off 5-10 minutes before you finish cooking will save energy, and the residual heat will be more than enough to continue cooking whatever’s inside.
You should also consider leaving the oven door open after you’re done, as the heat will keep your kitchen warmer for longer. Just be careful if you have children running around
2. Buy local and try to pre-cook the veggies
When it comes to the day’s main event, the Christmas Dinner, you should try your best to source locally sourced vegetables. While this isn’t necessarily an “energy-saving” measure per se, it will help support local producers and make your dinner as sustainable as possible.
British foodstuffs are as delicious as any you’ll find worldwide!
With your Great British vegetables in hand, you can save some energy by pre-cooking some of them, if not all.
Parboiling your roast potatoes can reduce the time they take to cook in the oven, saving energy and money. You’ll know they are ready as they should be slightly firm but slowly begin to slide off a fork or knife under gravity.
This handy technique can also give your roasties the perfect texture. What’s better than impressing the whole family and saving on your energy bills? Also, try not to chuck away the water you’ve used to boil your veg.
This makes excellent stock to add to your gravy and saves you time turning the kettle on to get hot water.
Another quick thing to consider is using glass cookware. It cools slower than metal, which means you’re less likely to need to reheat food. It is also a lot easier to clean afterward.
3. Lower your thermostat
Believe it or not, turning your thermostat down just one degree lower can save you up to £90 a year. The average person can’t tell the difference between a single degree of heat, so heating your home at 19°C instead of 20°C will still feel nice and toasty in the winter.
According to the World Health Organisation, setting the temperature to 18°C is even better and is more than enough for most adults. It’s only recommended to go above this for the young and the very old who can’t maintain their internal body temperature as well as a healthy adult.
Keeping the thermostat lower will also conserve gas and with blackouts a real – if slim – possibility this winter, the more people using less gas, the lower the chance of this happening.
4. Only heat the rooms you use
While manually adjusting each radiator can be tedious, it can save around £55 each year and reduce gas usage by 4.5%. This is especially true if you have installed thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs).
If you don’t have any, they may be worth you getting installed and can save you a pretty penny in no time.
Remember to keep the doors closed on unused rooms, too, so the heat doesn’t leak in and go to waste.
If you have a thermostat that can control the temperature of rooms separately, you can turn off the heating in unused rooms and lower the temperature in rooms you’re not using but plan to use later.
This is called “zoning” and is one of the best features of modern smart heating systems, which can also be programmed to handle the process automatically.
5. Bleed your radiators
Radiators become less efficient when air is trapped in them, as it takes them longer to heat up, which uses more fuel. Bleeding them releases this trapped air, helping the hot water flow more easily and getting your home warmer faster.
It is also very cathartic, so give it a go! A good way to tell if a radiator needs bleeding is to check for cold patches, but make sure the radiator isn’t too hot otherwise, you could burn yourself.
Another way to tell is if your radiator makes gurgling noises when heating up — this clearly indicates trapped air bubbles.
But be careful when bleeding your radiator; the water can be hot if the system is on. First, turn off the boiler and gradually open the bleed valve on each radiator until you hear air escaping, starting from the ground floor and working upwards per floor.
Keep the valve open until water comes out, and then tighten it again quickly. You only need to close it enough to stop water from escaping, so don’t overtighten it.
If done carefully, you should only get a small amount of water escaping, but you can also use a container or hold a towel by the valve to catch escaping water and save your mopping up afterward.
6. Block draughts
Draughts are one of the biggest energy-sucking issues in homes in the United Kingdom, especially in winter, and can account for up to 30% of a property’s energy loss.
To get a handle on them, walk around your home and identify any gaps in windows and doors that could let heat escape. If you have a tumble dryer with a ventilation pipe leading outside, make sure the hole in the wall doesn’t have obvious gaps.
You can close these gaps with purpose-made vent covers or insulation materials like spray foam insulation. Newspaper or fabric is not recommended as this can introduce a fire hazard.
Draughty windows can be sealed with rolls of sticky foam placed around the edges. This is a cheap but highly effective way to prevent warmth from leaking out.
For doors, you can purchase a draught excluder to place at the base.
These are usually filled with beans like those found in a bean bag and can be picked up for under £10.
7. Keep the heat in
Further to draught proofing, closing your curtains or blinds in the evening is a simple but effective way to reduce heat loss by up to 17%. This helps block off unfound draughts and reduces heat loss through radiation loss.
If your curtains cover your radiator, keep them open while it is on to allow proper air circulation, as radiators rely on convection to heat the room effectively. Once the heating is off, close the curtains to retain the warmth.
8. Adjust your boiler’s flow temperature
If you own a combi boiler, you’ll probably be able to adjust the flow temperature. Turning it down from 80°C to 60°C can save up to £112 per year without lowering your home’s temperature.
This is the same for your shower temperature, especially if you balance the hot water by turning up the cold water. Why waste more water and energy when you can simply adjust the flow temperature?
Don’t go lower than 60°C, however, because you risk letting legionella bacteria develop, which can cause Legionnaires’ disease. You can do this by using the controls on the front of your boiler. If in doubt, consult your boiler’s user manual.
9. Cover your windows
Not everyone has double glazing; even those who do can still struggle to keep as much heat as possible.
One cheap and easy way to stop heat escaping is by applying either cling film or taping bubble wrap to your windows, this works by creating a gap between your window pane and the film/bubble wrap that helps insulate against heat loss.
There is even special window film that you can buy from DIY stores like B&Q and Wickes that you cut to size and tape to window frames, you can then tighten it to size with a hairdryer so that it is taut and more transparent (less wrinkles).
Our editor Roland Ellison used this window film on his old single-glazed windows for a few years before upgrading to double glazing.
Roland said: “The film was quite cheap and you can get it in Wickes and other DIY stores.
“It was easy to fit and worked quite well, particularly in reducing condensation on our old windows, but it’s not a long-term solution. I tended to remove it during the summer as it gets tired and doesn’t look nice when it’s summer and you want to open the windows. I would fit new film the following winter.”
“It is cheap, but it is no substitute for purpose-built double glazing or secondary glazing”, he said.
10. Give your hot water cylinder a jacket for Christmas
A poorly insulated hot water cylinder is another major energy-consuming issue in homes, especially in older central heating systems. Think of them as giant kettles that constantly lose heat and need to be topped up regularly with fresh, hot water.
You can make them less “heat leaky” by covering them with insulation, like a jacket, to dramatically reduce the energy needed to keep them full of hot water.
According to the Energy Saving Trust, spending just £15-£22 on an insulating jacket for your hot water cylinder can save up to £80 a year.
Ideally, the minimum thickness of any jacket or insulation should be around 50mm-60mm, but 80mm is best.
When a cylinder isn’t insulated with a jacket, it’ll leak warmth when you stop heating it. A jacket keeps your cylinder nice and cosy, saving you money on your energy bills and meaning you have warm water available for longer.
Consider replacing your hold cylinder with a modern, ultra-insulated, efficient hot water cylinder or combination boiler. They do pay dividends in the long run.
11. Wash your clothes at 30°C
This tip is thrown around all the time, but it’s still worth remembering. Washing at 30°C can save up to £40 a year, and most washing powders and detergents work brilliantly at this temperature.
You should avoid halfloads of washing to save energy or set your washing machine to “eco” cycles.
Summary
- Turn your oven off early, parboil vegetables, and use glass cookware to save energy while preparing Christmas dinner.
- Lower your thermostat by one degree, heat only the rooms you use, and bleed radiators to maximize heating efficiency.
- Block draughts with inexpensive solutions like foam seals and draught excluders, and close curtains when the heating is off to retain warmth.
- To reduce energy usage and costs, adjust your boiler’s flow temperature to 60°C and insulate your hot water cylinder with a jacket.
- Wash clothes at 30°C and consider temporary window insulation like bubble wrap to decrease heat and energy bills.
If you’re keen to find more ways to save money on your bills, we have more helpful articles than you can fit under a Christmas tree.
From insulating your home to solar panels, keeping your energy costs down doesn’t have to come at the expense of the environment.
