It’s 5th December. Which means not too long until Santa comes down the chimney and gifts us all with everything we could have possibly asked for this year.

Sounds great, doesn’t it?

Well, we all know that it’s not always that simple. With Christmas often comes a hefty energy bill, don’t get me wrong we are all suckers for the bright lights and a warm cosy house, but we all know that this often

comes at a cost.   That’s why the team at 247 Trades have put together a selection of our favourite tips on how you could be saving yourselves a few pennies on energy over the Christmas period.  We thought we might start off with some facts to get

So, did you know?

– During December, the average time the heating is on for each day is 5 hours and 58 minutes

– The UK spend £1.9 million a day during December just by lighting up their Christmas Tree

– The average time spent using technology in the UK on Christmas day is 151 million hours

– The total cost of energy on Christmas Day in the UK is £41,600,000

So, what can we all do to make a difference this year?

1) Switch to LED Christmas Lights – These are a much cheaper option to incandescent lights which consume up to 90% more electricity.

2) Use Fiber Optic Decorations – Again a much cheaper option!

3) Use a timer for your Christmas Tree lights for limited times throughout the day.

4) Keep the heat in – Draught-proof your windows and doors this Christmas to save between £25-35 per year.

5) Make sure you move furniture away from the radiators. This is so the heat doesn’t get trapped and warmth can be spread easily around the room.

6) Insulate exposed pipes and you could save around £10 a year. This also avoids the pipes bursting due to frozen water.

7) Make use of body heat – Turn down the thermostat when you have guests!

8) Buy energy star electronics – Energy Star Certified electronics use up to 60 – less electricity than ones that are non-certified.

9) When cooking, try and bake multiple dishes at a time – It takes the same amount of energy to heat a full oven as it does a nearly-empty one.

10) You can also try to use smaller appliances such as a microwave for smaller cooking tasks where possible and save as much energy as possible for the bigger ones.

11) Try to unplug all your appliances when they’re not in use – Leaving one appliance on stand-by for just 20 hours could cost around £20 a year.

12) Once Santa has visited, you should consider sealing your chimney with a draught excluder, this could save around £30 a year.

We hope that’s helped! Let us know how you get on.

If you’d like a chat with one of our team about how we might be able to help reduce your energy consumption this winter, please head over to our contact us page or click on one of the social buttons below.

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