How to save energy in the summer

Reduce your energy consumption and save on bills even when the sun is shining.

It’s easy to worry about your energy bills in winter when it’s cold outside: the boiler’s cranked up, hot baths are the order of the day, and you spend your evenings in front of the TV dreaming of sunshine and sandy beaches. In summer, we use much less energy. But even though it’s warmer and we don’t rely on heating and hot water so much, there are still things you can do to reduce your energy consumption and bring your bills down.

1.  Tweak your boiler

Come summer most people have turned their thermostats right down, so if your boiler is still humming away pumping heat to your radiators, give it a holiday and turn it off! Houses do a good job of retaining heat from the sun, so chances are you won’t even miss those two or three hours of superfluous central heating.

And while you’re at your boiler, turn down the hot water thermostat a couple of settings to limit the maximum temperature of showers and baths. No-one wants a scorching hot shower after a sweaty day in the sun!

2.  Dry clothes outside

Tumble dryers are massive energy drains, so on warm days hang clothes outside to dry instead. You’ll be saving energy and giving your clothes a thorough airing – it’s a ‘summer breeze’ scent no tumble dryer sheet can replicate!

3.  Make the most of natural light

Use the summer sun to your advantage. If it’s boiling hot during the day, keep south facing blinds and curtains drawn to keep the house cool, but as evening draws in throw them wide open and let your rooms soak up as much natural daylight as possible, so you can put off switching the lights on for a bit longer.

4.  Invest in insulation

When heatwaves strike (and climate change means we’ll definitely see more extreme weather in the future), it’s tempting to plug in energy-hungry fans and air-conditioning devices to help keep cool. Meanwhile, appliances such as fridges and freezers go into overdrive to mitigate rising temperatures. You can put pay to this by insulating your house instead. Insulation is usually associated with keeping the heat in during winter, but in the summer months it works to keep heat out, too. It’s a year-round investment and one that’ll help reduce your energy bills whatever the weather. Find out how much you could save . Better still, you might not even have to pay anything upfront, thanks to the Chancellor’s latest home insulation scheme.

5.  Get out and about

Remember back in winter when you’d dream of summer activities and al fresco excursions? Now’s the time to put your plans into action and make the most of the warmer weather and longer days! The more time you spend out and about in nature the less energy you’ll be using at home, and when winter rolls around again you’ll be content knowing you made the most of it while you could.

The bottom line

You might not think there are many opportunities to cut back on your energy consumption when the weather’s good, but there’s always room for improvement. Saving energy is a year-round exercise, even in summer, and you can help mitigate the impact of climate change by using the season’s gifts of warmth and sunshine to your advantage.

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