Any way you can save money here and there through the year can really add up. One of the biggest bills faced by a lot of us is our energy bill. I’ve put together a few hints and tips I’ve managed to find which will help you make some big savings – almost £400 per year from your gas and electricity bills. You might even find you have a few pounds left for yourself for all those ice-creams!

2. Wrap up warmer
Your mother always told you to wrap up warm and she had a point. I don’t mean dressing the kids in more and more jumpers till they look like the Michelin man or snuggling up with your other half under a slanket, I mean a jumper for your home. More specifically, insulation. Lining the loft of an average detached house can reduce energy wastage and thus your family’s energy bills. The average saving? up to £240 per year.

Throw in cavity wall insulation and you could save another £250. Unfortunately in this case you have to spend money to save money with insulation costing around £495 for a detached property. It’ll take a couple of years before you are back in the black, but the upshot is a warmer home in the winter and a cooler one in the summer with much less energy spent on heating or cooling the house.

Potential saving: £240 per year

2. Descale
I’m not talking downsizing where you live. Were getting rid of limescale, big time. Limescale lurks away in our heating and water pipes. Families in hard-water areas will experience a constant build up of limescale. It clogs up everything from water pipes to washing machines and dishwashers making them much less efficient and shortening their lifespan. In hard water areas it adds around £200 a year to energy bills.

Treating hard water boils down to spending money. There are two ways, firstly spending around £2 on a water softening system, which will take around a decade to pay for itself but is a proven method. The second way is less proven but cheaper, install an €˜electric field’ gadget that plugs into the mains and generates electricity through coils of wire wrapped around the water supply pipe. This aims to break up calcium deposits so they do not fur up your pipework. The small device costs about £200 and start saving you money after the first year.

Potential saving: £200 a year

4. Slow down in the kitchen
The way you cook can have a much bigger effect on your energy bills than you might think. Cooking by hob for just 40 minutes per day costs around £90 per year! €˜Slow’ down. Slow cooking for 8 hours a day while you’re out at work costs just £24 a year, a saving of £76 per year. Switching on the microwave for 20 minutes a day costs as little as £4 per year. £4, a saving of £87. You may not want to cook every meal by microwave or slow cooker but skipping the hob now and then can save you money and is greener for the planet too.

Potential saving: £76 – £87 a year

So that’s how I’ve found out how to save almost £400 a year of my energy bill. If you use all of my recommendations you could save even more, a grand total of £677 – that’s more than a few family days out next summer!