[Rebecca]

Happy December fellow Utilita Community Members. 🎄🍵❄

Have you started to get into the festive spirit yet, or are you holding out a little longer? 🤔

Regardless of how you’re feeling and celebrating, December can be a time of excess. Lots of food, energy (both your own, and your home’s), and noise. 🤯

So, here are some of our favourite festive energy saving tips, most of which also help all year around. Win, win! 🤩🤗

Put your Christmas lights on a timer
It may seem simple but having them on in the day light hours unnecessarily uses unneeded energy costs. Even better if you don’t already, be sure to invest in some energy efficient LED lights.



Get the most out of your dishwasher & washing machine
Making sure you put on full loads instead of half loads will get more out of your energy use.

Most washing tablets are now designed to work on lower washing temperatures too. So try washing your clothes loads on 30 degrees or lower, if you don’t already! This could save you £12 a year on average according to ‘Energy Saving Trust’.

Watch the thermostat
A lot of us will be spending more time in the kitchen preparing some kind of festive spread. With this in mind, your home will naturally be warm already. In addition, turning down your thermostat by one degree (ie. From 22 to 21 degrees) could save you £90 a year on average according to ‘Energy Saving Trust’. Another great hack is to leave your oven open after you’re done cooking with it (providing it is safe to do so, and it’s not at a height/level that is dangerous for anyone in your household, most importantly children/infants).



Cosy up!
Hygge is HUGE in Denmark. It’s all about cultivating a cosy, relaxed and snuggly environment. It’s a ritual and a way of life. Here are some ways you can incorporate it into your home-life & save energy at the same time. (Ref Energy Saving Trust)
Turn down the thermostat and use thick jumpers and blankets to be extra cosy.
Switch the lights off and use LED candles to create a seasonal cosy relaxed environment.

Switch off your screens – focus on reading or playing board games instead.
Have warm, comforting food and drink like soups, stews and hot chocolate.

Be savvy with your appliances
The three cheapest cooking appliances to use in the kitchen are the following: air fryer, microwave, and slow cooker. The most expensive is an electric oven, despite them being big and fitting more into them, especially handy when cooking for more people.
According to the Energy Saving Trust, it costs £0.20 to cook a 600g chicken breast in an electric oven. But it only costs £0.14 in an air fryer.
If you are cooking for a family or several guests, it’s much easier and practical to batch cook your food in an electric oven and make the most of the heat.

Keep a lid on it
Whatever you are boiling for dinner, putting a lid on the pan will use around 10% less energy, your food will cook quicker, and your house will get less steamy too. This helps reduce moisture in the air, which can cause damp over time in high quantities.

Get a draught excluder!
If you are planning to stay in one room in the evening – draught proofing can be a game changer. There are simple measure you can take, such as a simple door draught excluder cushion, or taping up draughty windows. You’ll waste less energy and £££ keeping toasty!

Power down your telly
TV’s can be very power hungry! In the UK, we watch more TV over Christmas than at any other time. A great way to save is to make sure you turn off the TV when no one’s watching. Or try swapping some TV time for an energy-free activity like a board game!
Finally, make sure all devices like TVs, game consoles and computers are fully switched off and not left on standby as this wastes energy.



Eat your leftovers
It’s easy to put too much food on when hosting, according to the ‘Centre of Sustainable Energy’, we waste the equivalent of two million turkeys in food each Christmas in the UK! Save money and energy by only cooking what you need and eating up any leftovers. There’s loads of recipes to help you use up your Christmas dinner leftovers you can find here. It’s recommended you store leftover food in the fridge, freeze anything you don’t eat within two days, and reheat food to steaming hot.

Wear your Festive Jumpers!
Whether you’re celebrating Christmas or not, it’s the perfect time to get your cosy knits on and embrace the cosy layers. It can be the difference between feeling warm naturally, and putting the heating on unnecessarily! Most homes are at a comfortable heat anywhere between 18 – 20 degrees during the day, depending on your specific needs. At night, the optimal sleeping temperature is between 16 – 18 degrees, again, depending on your specific needs.

Did this help? Have you got any extra tips? Post in the comments section below! 🤗😍👇💬