How to use less energy this winter

Moving furniture, a tiny adjustment here and there and a little DIY can save you a lot of energy this winter. And less energy consumption means a lower energy bill.

We have listed the most important tips that will save you energy and money.

Close cracks and holes, prevent drafts

When it's cold outside, drafts can cool your house down enormously, causing the heating to consume more energy. The first step to prepare your home for winter is to prevent drafts.

It is best to close cracks with a draft strip or draft tape. You can easily apply these to your windows and keep the draft out immediately. You can use an elastic sealant for fixed parts of a frame. For doors, you will use a draft brush.

Cracks are a major problem, especially in older homes. You can find them by listening and feeling carefully. Most sound comes in through a crack. Usually you will also feel a strong breeze coming through a crack.

Drafts mainly occur around:

• Windows and frames,

• Doors,

• Where pipes run through the wall,

• Around the fuse box.

According to Milieu Centraal, sealing cracks saves about 70 euros per year for an average corner house. Because it feels warmer, the heating can also be turned down a degree. That saves another 130 euros per year.

Prevent energy leakage

You will never use a device all day. And of course, we turn off the TV when we're not actively watching it. But even on standby, most devices use a lot of power.

Some game consoles have an 'instant-on mode', which means that almost no start-up time is needed. Handy, but pricey: 96.77 euros per year*. Now most appliances have the option for an energy-efficient standby, but it could be easier.

Prevent standby consumption by:

• Pulling the plug of the device from the socket when you are not using it.

• Plugging different devices that you use at the same time into a power strip with an on-off switch. For example, in a home office, you can completely shut down the monitor, printer and computer at the same time.

• A timer that automatically shuts off power. For example, you can completely switch off your router from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.

LED lights

LED lighting consumes 85% less energy and lasts 7.5 times longer than a halogen lamp.

With lighting, most of the lifecycle cost is for the electricity, not the lamp itself. Even if a halogen lamp still works fine, it is cheaper to replace it immediately. It takes an average of 300 burning hours to recoup the cost of an LED lamp.

And how much money do you save with LED lamps? Take a living room with 3 ceiling lamps. You go from 3 halogen lamps of 40 watts to 3 LED lamps of 6 watts. If you use them on average for 3.5 hours a day, you will save € 108.40 per year.

Insulate single-glazed windows

Do you still have single-glazed windows in your home? These will lose you a lot of heat in winter. It is best to replace the entire frame with modern double or triple glass windows up to the latest sustainability standards.

But if that is not possible, because you have to insulate your rented house, for example, you can use Thermo Cover from Tesa. You attach this transparent foil to the frame. It acts as an insulating air cushion that can replace the missing second layer of glass. At the same time, it also prevents condensation from single-glazed windows.

Radiator foil

Is your radiator placed on an outside wall? Especially if it is not insulated, a lot of heat escapes. Radiator foil offers an easy solution. The aluminum 'reflects' the heat from the radiator back into the house.

You attach radiator foil directly to the wall with double-sided tape, or with magnetic strips on the back of your radiator. You buy it on a roll and cut it to size yourself at home.

A water-saving shower head

On average, 20% of our gas consumption is used to heat shower water. Every minute that we shower less, already results in energy savings. But a water-saving shower head immediately ensures that you use 20 to 60 percent less water and gas.

Do you want to know whether a water-saving shower head makes sense for you? Turn on your hot shower and let the water flow into a bucket. Do this for exactly 17 seconds. With a water-saving shower head you should now have about 2 liters of water. So if there is more than two liters of water in the bucket, a water-saving shower head can save a lot of energy.

A smart thermostat

Some program themselves, others can be controlled with a smartphone; one measures your energy consumption and makes energy saving fun, the other knows when you are at home and adjusts the heating accordingly.

Of course you can also heat your house 'smartly' yourself. The simplest tricks to use less energy for your heating are:

• Constantly set the temperature one degree lower than you are used to. Ideally, you heat your house to 19 degrees.

• Set the temperature to 15 degrees at night and when no one is home.

• Turn the heating off completely in rooms you are not using and keep the doors closed.

Simple actions for every day

You don't just save energy by installing new things. Some decisions we make every day save at least as much energy:

• Only turn on the washing machine and dishwasher when they are completely full.

• If you have a lower nighttime rate, put the laundry and dishes on a timer and do it at night.

• Keep your radiators clear. A cabinet, chair or bench in front of the radiator absorbs heat and makes the heater less efficient.

• Let the sun in during the day to warm up the house. Close the curtains at night to keep out the cold.

• If you never or rarely use a room, set the thermostat on the radiator to the lowest setting and keep the door closed.

*Based on an energy price of an energy price of 0.896 euros per kWh (September 2022).