Top Tips

It can be hard to meet the cost of heating, insulating and ventilating your home, and wider costs of living can also be hard to meet. There are a number of different places that you can look for support:

Food banks: search for Lincolnshire food banks

Warm spaces: search for Warm Spaces near you

Money Talk Lincs has information on income maximisation (checking you’re claiming all the benefits you’re entitled to), debt support, budgeting advice and many other topics

Don’t forget, if you are having problems paying your power bills, contact your energy provider as soon as possible

You can also contact Citizens Advice for information and help on managing debt:

Citizens Advice Lincoln & Lindsey Lincoln, East Lindsey, West Lindsey

Citizens Advice Mid Lincolnshire Boston, North Kesteven

Citizens Advice South Lincolnshire South Holland, South Kesteven

Electrical Items

Don’t leave your phone on charge all night: phones do not need all night to charge and leaving them on for a long time can pose a fire risk. Where possible, turn off electrical items such as TVs rather than leave them on standby, as this uses small amounts of power that you could save. Turn off the lights in rooms as you leave them and make sure all the lights are turned off when you go to bed. If you need to leave a light on at night, use a low-wattage night light. If you are changing your computer, consider buying a laptop: they use considerably less power than a desktop computer.

Fridges and freezers

Keep your fridge door shut: when warm air enters the fridge, it needs to use more power to return to the correct temperature. Don’t overfill your fridge, as air needs to circulate inside the fridge to maintain the right temperature.

Keep your freezer door shut: when warm air enters the freezer, it needs to use more power to return to the correct temperature. Make sure you defrost your freezer regularly as this can help it run more efficiently. Having a fuller (but not over-packed) freezer can help your freezer work more effectively, as the frozen items help maintain lower temperatures, and means there is less space for warm air to get into your freezer when the door opens. You can fill empty space in your freezer by adding water filled bottles or containers.

You should not put hot food in the fridge or freezer. Doing this means that your fridge or freezer has to work harder to maintain the correct temperature. Additionally, putting hot food straight into the fridge or freezer can warm up the food around it, which may mean your stored food spoils faster or bacteria growth is encouraged as the temperature gets higher. Hot food in the fridge or freezer can also lead to condensation, which can turn to ice on fridge walls or excess ice in your freezer, again meaning your appliances need to work harder.  

Washing clothes and dishes

Wait until you have a full load before running the dishwasher or washing machine. One full load uses less energy (and water) than two half-loads.

Washing and bathing

Taking showers instead of baths saves money on water heating. Electric showers still use a lot of energy, so if you want to save on your power costs you could buy a shower timer to help encourage a shorter showering time. You might also want to fit a water saving shower head: using one of these means that there is less water to heat and can help save on power and water costs. Anglian Water may also be able to offer different tariffs, depending on individual circumstances. They may also be able to supply baby dams, and bags you can put in your toilet cistern to reduce water use. For further information on help and support, visit Anglian Water's Extra Care Support page

Heating and hot water

If you can, turn your heating down by one degree. It is likely that you won’t notice the change in temperature very much, but it should help you to reduce your heating bill a little. If you have a hot water cylinder, especially if you have an uninsulated or poorly insulated one, think about getting a hot water cylinder jacket. A thick insulating jacket for your hot water cylinder can save money on your bills by reducing heat loss and keeping the water inside the cylinder hotter for longer. Don’t put clothes or towels on radiators as this can block heat from the rest of your room. Never put clothes on electric or space heaters as this can pose a fire risk.

Unused chimneys

Unused chimneys can be a source of draughts. There are a couple of ways that you can minimize draughts. A cap can be fitted over the chimney pot: these are normally made from terracotta. These can provide protection from moisture and birds as well as from draughts, but you may need to hire someone to come and fit one for you. Alternatively, you could buy a chimney draught excluder: this is fitted inside the chimney or around the fireplace to help reduce the amount of warm air going up out of the chimney and stop cold draughts coming in, such as chimney sheep, chimney umbrellas or chimney balloons. To make sure you still get enough ventilation, they shouldn’t fully block the chimney. Many chimney draught excluders are removable, and you must remove any chimney draught excluder if you plan to use your fire, and ensure that the chimney is fit for use (you can find a registered chimney sweep to do this. Check out the Good Home Lincs Roof page and look at the information in the drop down section ‘Chimneys’).