Unfortunately, our energy bills are something we can’t ignore. But with rising energy costs (the average energy bills amount to a whopping £1,249 per year), they’re becoming an even bigger concern for many of us.

However, that doesn’t mean we can’t take some steps towards reducing these costs as much as possible. 

With that in mind, here are our top tips on how to reduce your electricity costs at home: 

First, if you haven’t kept on top of your provider’s pricing and haven’t done some comparison shopping, now’s the time to consider switching. 

There’s often a big gap between the cheapest deals available and the standard tariffs people are paying. With the majority of people being able to save several hundred pounds by switching, this is simply a must-do. 

Another way to save more money is to switch from paying by card or cheque to paying by direct debit instead. 

In fact, the Department of Energy and Climate Change estimates that the average user can save just over £66 on their electric bill by switching to this payment method. You might also be able to make further savings by doing everything online with some providers offering cash bonuses for paperless billing etc.

Although this won’t be taking up the majority of your electricity bills, standby electricity could be boosting your bills by around £20 to £30 each year – that’s a meal out for two! And if you have lots of gadgets and technology around your home, this may be even more. 

The biggest culprits are TVs, TV boxes, music amplifiers, laptops (that are charged), desktops that are set into sleep mode, games consoles that are switched on and audio systems – so all of these make a great place to start. 

Get into the habit of switching these off standby so they shut down completely. While this may take some doing to start with, you’ll be surprised how flicking the ‘off’ switch soon becomes habit. And once it does, you can make a start on the other devices that use up standby electricity (but aren’t as heavy hitting as the aforementioned ones). These include modems, printers, heating (in off mode), DVD players, power tools that are fully charged and charged mobiles. 

How old are the cables around your home? If they’re particularly old, you could be losing a lot of energy through these. Installing new ones can help provide good resistance to keep the amount of electricity you’re using under control. 

If you’re an avid DIYer, you may want to look to places like RS Components to find what you need to get the job done – or, for the more technical of jobs, you may want to hire your local electrician. 

All of these tips are simple and easy to do, ensuring you can start reducing your energy bills in next to no time.