Households will see a significant fall in their energy bills from July after a drop in the price cap, which limits how much suppliers can charge households for each unit of energy they use.
A typical household will now pay £2,074 a year on its gas and electricity bill, Ofgem has said.
It will mark the end of the Government’s Energy Price Guarantee which, since October, has limited the typical bill to £2,500.
While this decrease in cost is great news, experts at Infinity Energy have warned of a few “serious energy-wasting habits you need to avoid”, especially for those looking to “reduce bills” further.
They said: “It’s easy to see that there is plenty of room to reduce our energy-wasting habits. The first step is to understand the common ways we waste energy.
READ MORE: Five ‘worst appliances’ to leave on standby – adds an ‘extra amount’ onto bills
“These energy-wasting habits can range from falling asleep in front of the TV to leaving the lights on all day, to hanging out in front of the open freezer. Here are five of the most serious energy-wasting habits you need to avoid.”
1. Setting the water heater thermostat too high
The experts claimed that it is “pointless and expensive” to set your water heater above 50 degrees.
Instead, they suggested placing a timer inside the shower and setting it as a reminder to limit the hot-water use, starting at, say five minutes.
Another “good option” can be to have solar panels installed. That way, while producing clean energy, “you can reduce your bills at the same time”, claimed the pros.
2. Forgetting to turn off lights and appliances
The energy experts said that these are the “most obvious energy-wasting habits” as they highlighted that plugged-in appliances “drain a lot of energy”.
They said that the good news is that it’s also one of the “easiest energy-wasting habits to fix”. Just turn off the lights and appliances whenever they aren’t in use.
For those who find it too difficult to do that, they can install a smart home system.
This system comes with an app that remotely monitors the lighting in the house through a smartphone.
3. Not programming the home’s thermostat
With the weather getting nicer these days, a question that is asked almost every year is whether it is a good idea to turn off the central heating during the summer months to save money on heating bills.
However, in summer the heating still needs to be on at times to keep the system operating correctly. The central heating system is a device that is designed to be switched on and off, but when it is switched off for long periods of time, then things can go wrong with the system as parts have the tendency to seize up.
To avoid “increased bills”, the experts recommend households check to see if their thermostat is programmable, and if it is, get into the habit of resetting it frequently.
4. Opening the fridge too often
Those few seconds, or even minutes, people spend staring into their refrigerator “add up to a significant waste of energy”.
The experts shared: “On average, people spend around 10 hours looking at their open fridge or freezer each year.
“That browsing time amounts to seven percent of the appliance’s total energy use. You need to develop the habit of opening the fridge and freezer only when necessary.”
