With energy prices expected to keep on rising, finding small ways to reduce outgoing costs has never been more important. While appliances such as fridges, cookers and washing machines are essential in our households, they are often the reason why our energy costs keep creeping up.
From holding on to instruction manuals to customising your washing cycles, online electricals retailer AO has turned to its team of engineers for tips on how we can shave precious pounds off our monthly bills and reduce the running costs of our appliances. Jason Smith, National Operations Manager at AO Logistics, offers some simple tips on how we can all lower energy consumption in our homes.
He said: “Try to limit the number of times you open the doors to your fridge and freezer. Every time the fridge door is opened, cold air escapes and warm air enters which means the appliance must work harder to reduce the temperature. You may notice that the doors are hard to open again after closing. Cooling the air costs money so the less you open the door, the less you spend.”
“Another simple step that many people often overlook is paying attention to the instructions. Your manufacturer’s instructions are full of tips on how to reduce energy usage and make the most of your specific appliance – for example, don’t stick to the pre-set programmes. Every appliance will have multiple settings, programmes and cycles that can be tailored to your own personal circumstances – reducing the amount of water, electricity and energy being used.”
When it comes to instruction manuals, research from AO found that over half (54%) of Brits admit to throwing them away and almost half (43%) of people regretted not properly reading the instruction manual before using their appliance. Unsurprisingly, 28% of the 2,000 people surveyed regretted binning the manual.
Jason said: “People often use more electricity than they need to because they don’t understand how their appliance works. Instruction manuals are a free and easy way to reduce costs and don’t worry if you have thrown it away – you can access manuals from most manufacturers online.”
He added: “Sometimes we find ourselves in a situation where we have no choice but to purchase a new appliance. While this can be an unexpected and often stressful expense, I’d recommend choosing an energy efficient model wherever possible. While it may not be the cheapest product up front, these appliances use less energy to run so they pay for themselves over time, and you can make a substantial savings in the long term.”
To help customers find the most efficient models, AO has introduced energy saving tool Youreko on its website, which highlights exactly how much money can be saved when choosing a more efficient appliance.
Launched on AO.com this month, the tool can compare the running costs and real financial savings over the lifetime of multiple appliances and recommend alternative models that could be more cost effective in the long run.
Only a few weeks in and AO is already seeing customers choose to invest in a more energy efficient model to save on running costs.
For more advice on how to reduce costs when it comes to your appliances, visit: https://ao.com/energy-efficiency/