Reduce your use with energy plan
The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has launched its Home Energy Plan with 3 simple steps to reduce your use and save you money at home.
It provides practical advice to help us reduce our energy bills this winter and will give us a roadmap of big-impact actions we can take at no or low cost.
The Home Energy Plan will focus on 3 key areas where people use the most energy – home heating, electricity and transport.
Every day from the moment we get up, we are using energy, from taking a shower to making breakfast and travelling to work or school. By reducing the amount of energy used in the home, we can permanently reduce the impact of rising energy costs on our household budget which will help both our pockets and reduce our climate impact.
SEAI have ambassadors Melanie Murphy, Catherine Carton and Caroline Foran taking part in the plan and you can follow their progress on their Instagram channels - @melaniiemurphy, @daintydressdiaries, @carolineforan.
Commenting on the campaign, Head of Communications in SEAI, Tom Halpin said: “The Home Energy Plan will help inform people about their energy use and share advice on how they can reduce their use. Much of our energy use is habitual and behavioural changes can make a huge difference.”
As we enter the heating season, SEAI will first focus on how to reduce heating costs, which on average makes up 60% of a household’s energy bills:
• You can reduce your heating bill by 10% by simply lowering the thermostat by just one degree. Turn the thermostat for your living areas down to 19°C. The temperature in hallways and bedrooms should be cooler, ideally between 15-18°C.
• Once you’ve adjusted the thermostat, use timers to control when you heat your home. Set it to have your heating on at set times when you are at home and off when you are out.
• Use the control on your immersion heater to heat only your water when required. By using heating controls, you can save on your water heating bill.
The Home Energy Plan will start from Wednesday 9 November and will run for 3 weeks. Sign up at seai.ie/homeenergyplan.