The Council’s Home Energy Advice Service is holding two events next week for The Energy Saving Trusts’ Energy Savers Week. Residents will be able to get free, impartial information and advice about ways to reduce their energy usage.

The events are being held on Monday 19 and Thursday 22 January at the Council House, between 10am and 2pm, alongside partner organisations National Energy Action, Warmer Derby and Derbyshire and Groundwork Five Counties.

For those attending the events, the Home Energy Advice Service and partners will be able to provide energy saving freebies like LED lightbulbs and draught excluders to reduce energy bills. Residents will also be able to get referrals to additional advice and support from a network of trusted partner organisations.

These partners are able to offer services to eligible residents such as home visits, free boiler services and gas appliance checks, pre-payment meter top-up vouchers and damp and mould advice and support.

If you can’t make it to the events, here are our top energy saving tips:

  • Get a smart meter. Smart meters let you see the energy you’re using and means bills are more accurate. Some energy suppliers are also offering new tariffs for homes with smart meters that reduce electricity costs at off-peak times.
  • Reduce the flow temperature on your combi boiler. A combi boiler works most efficiently when the flow temperature is set to 60°C. You can see how to change the flow temperature on the Money Saving Boiler Challenge
  • Swap to LEDs. LED lighting uses significantly less energy to light your home, with some bulbs using as little as 2W compared to old style incandescent bulbs which could use 60W or more. LEDs also last much longer which means fewer bulb changes.
  • Block draughts. Draught proofing your home can instantly cut around £85 a year from energy bills. A draughty room can feel around 4°C colder than it is, meaning you could be putting the heating on more than you need.

There are more energy saving tips on our website or you can use the Green Home Guide on Green Rewards to get a room-by-room breakdown of the ways you can save energy and water.

Councillor Carmel Swan, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Transport and Sustainability commented:

“We’ve all felt the impacts of rising energy costs so Energy Savers Week is a great reminder to us all to look at the ways we can reduce our energy usage to reduce bills and demand on the grid.

“We want Derby to be a shining beacon of energy efficient homes and that starts with taking a few simple steps like swapping out lightbulbs and changing our boiler flow temperature.”