How to save money on home energy bills this autumn/winter

As utility bills soar again, Kya deLongchamps shows how to cut costs

For a cosy autumn/winter, have your boiler checked and/or flue or chimney swept. File picture

Power and heat are your key utilities coming into the colder months. We’ve got you covered with our key tips, hacks, and preparation to tame those bills through to spring.

Have your boiler/stove/heat pump serviced 

This annual service is a non-negotiable, and this rounds up everything from a boiler check to having the chimney swept. If the fee is holding you back (from €120 for a typical gas or oil boiler), keep in mind that an inefficient boiler will be mishandling expensive, fossil fuels, wasting as much as 10% of your costs in one year. Even a heat pump (HP) that short-cycles can waste a lot of money. 

If your fuel bill is terrifying and the system is faltering, the SEAI advises it's generally much cheaper to heat water using your central heating system (in autumn/winter), rather than using electricity with an immersion. If your boiler is over fifteen years old, it could be time to replace it: "A modern combi-boiler, which provides instant hot water, is generally considered to be more energy efficient than a 'stored' hot water system.” 

Ask your service engineer about optimising the flow temperatures on your combination boiler, as this can be an unexpected money-saver.

Switch energy suppliers or challenge your own 

Using a price comparison site that doubles as a switching portal could slice hundreds from your annual energy bill. Before you start, take a forensic look at how you use your electricity over the course of a typical day. Include highlights like EV charging or an HP if you have one. Twenty-four-hour tariffs can suit many households surprisingly well, and there’s an argument to jump on fixed-term tariffs, which have made a shy return to the market. Smart meter time-of-use deals now compare well with 24-hour standard tariffs if you are organised enough to use them well. 

If you haven’t changed your power supplier in the last 12 months, you’re likely missing out. Bundle deals with electricity and gas, being mindful of the price of jumping out of incomplete contracts. File picture

Dual-fuel deals (gas/electricity) offer the greatest savings if both contracts are timing out. A recent survey by price comparison website Switcher.ie shows that the average utility draw for a one–to two-bedroom apartment is around 2900kWh for power, and 6,900kWh for gas. This rises to 5,400kWh for electricity and 13,700kWh of gas for a four–five-bedroom household supporting up to five individuals. Think of this: 4,200kWh of electricity and 11,000kWh in gas is the national average determined by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU).

Cheap weatherproofing 

Even basic draught-proofing can cut that thermal bleed by as much as 15%, saving 145kg of CO2 a year, and improving your sensory comfort. We’re talking about under €30 for a couple of rolls of self-adhesive compression tape in foam or rubber, suited to windows and doors. This is somewhere you could lend some detective work, a scissors and a steady hand to an elderly or physically challenged neighbour. 

On a windy day, notice where you feel a cool ingress around opening sections of the windows, then take a hands and knees tour to source every small breeze on the upwind side of the building coming under thresholds and around frames, at attic hatches, where floor joists meet external walls and where pipe-work penetrates external walls and suspended floors. 

Natural Cosy Texture door curtain, from €76, Next.

Soft weatherproofing materials flatten and perish over time, and foams and caulking can dry out, crumble and detach. This is standard wear and repair. Don’t ever cover available trickle-vents in any windows.

Appliance science 

Big and small, your appliances are nibbling away at savings. Some are best used at full capacity, while others should be detailed only for what you need. The kettle should boil the amount of water required and try snapping it off when it boils rather than waiting a full minute for the lever to automatically release. Most freezers, washing machines, dishwashers, and tumble dryers are most economically used when full and operated on their eco-cycle. 

That’s full, not over-full. If you cram the dryer, for example, it cannot toss the clothes around, and as a kW munching monster, set on a timer rather than stopped by a sensor cycle – it will kick up your annual bill. The trend for short-cycle washing overall is a marketing ploy to sell specialised detergents that just play on our chaotic impatience. Read the PDF for your individual machines to get the real figures on blasting through that load at 30 minutes. You might be shocked at the cleanliness caveats and cost.

Wrangle those radiators 

Together with servicing your system, bleeding radiators, and “flushing” your entire system every few years, detailing the CH is crucial. Where you have no zoning or sophisticated heating controls, thermostatic radiator valves (TRV) can zone a flabby, wet CH system into much better behaviour. 

Prioritise TRVs for every room, including halls. From €12 a piece for simple manual style, TVRs will automatically open and close the radiator valves based on the surrounding temperature, keeping the room at a more consistent heat. Smart (app operated) TRVs from €58 from Tado, Hive, Honeywell, and Bosch. See my full guide here: irishexaminer.com/property/homeandgardens/arid-41309488.html.

Choose 20C 

Turn your CH thermostat down to 20C in the main living areas during daytime/early evening use. With the exception of vulnerable groups, most fit and able adults will cope perfectly well at 20C and may even find 19C more refreshing, with 16C to 17C acceptable when tucked up in bed. If you don’t understand zone settings on your CH, you’re missing out. 

Whether you change up your controls with as much as €700 of help in SEAI grant aid, or work up a smart system all by yourself, taming the boiler could save you hundreds over the course of a year; Nest Thermostat E, from €219.

Halls, circulation areas and bedrooms can be kept at 18C in the winter once you close dividing doors. Struggling to feel warm at 21C-plus? Your house is a sieve and likely has a ventilation problem keeping the air tacky. Return to the weatherproofing/insulating tips, ensure all wall vents are open and unobstructed and long-term, look into SEAI grant-aided insulation improvements (seai.ie).

Improve your timing 

Standard wet central heating (with radiators) is highly reactive. 20 minutes to half an hour before you rise should be enough to warm things up. Equally, when you’re going to bed on a colder day, kicking the system off for half an hour before you flit will make no perceptible difference. 

Well-designed, A-rated homes can be run 24/7 from a HP which will cycle on and off, taking advantage of a highly insulated environment. The pump should “set-back” 2C to 3C during the night. Smart controls, when and if you do upgrade your CH, will allow you to control your system from anywhere via a dedicated app. Up to €700 available for heating controls for any home built before 2011, seai.ie.

Empower the shower 

To explain, let me put a little domestic drama for you. Dymphna likes to take a 10-minute uninterrupted shower in your 10kW power shower located in the family bathroom. Trilling to her phone and shaving her legs, let’s say, the little darling chooses a peak time to do this and immaculate and band-box fresh, she ablutes once a day on your dime. At a unit rate of €0.40 kW/h that’s 6c per minute, 66c per shower, €4.62 per week or €37 per billing cycle per Dymphna or Darragh. Organised and systematic— four minutes is a long shower.

Cook up savings 

We’re all wild for our air-fryers, as limiting the volume and using fan-assisted cycles, they cook fast and generally use fewer kWs for a standard family meal than an electric oven. When you do use an electric cooker, do more to reduce power usage. Put lids on pans when boiling food (this also reduces the steam you’re venting out of the kitchen), and choose pan sizes that sit closely over the ring size. Don’t obsessively check an oven-cooked meal by opening the door. 

This forces the oven to tickle the temperature back up repeatedly. That applies to your fridge too. If the teens are using it as a night-light while they consider their options on a Friday night? Well, you’re paying for that. Longer roasts will still cook for up to 20 minutes after you turn the oven off, but experiment with an oven thermometer to ensure your model has a well-insulated cavity to deliver safe, fully cooked meals to order. Slow cookers running at 150W per hour with a sear-setting are my must-have for AW 2025; Morphy Richards Sear and Stew from €55, suppliers nationwide.