How a jug of water is key to slash your energy bills this winter – but you need to get it ‘just right’
ENERGY bills are expected to rise again next year but tricks such as putting water in your fridge could save you precious money.
Georgie Barrat is a technology journalist and TV presenter of The Gadget Show – she says the key to saving energy is to switch off “vampire” appliances.
Speaking on BBC’s Morning Live Georgie gave viewers advice on how to save money on energy bills this winter.
She spoke of switching off appliances such as game consoles, TVs, set-top boxes and microwaves as they use a lot of energy even when they are not in use.
Additionally, Georgie revealed that people could also save money on appliances that are not as easy to switch off.
She said: “Fridge freezers are pretty power-hungry – they use up about £143 of electricity per year.
“So I do have some tips on making a fridge-freezer the most efficient it can be.”
One of Georgie’s hacks is to fill the fridge with water to increase its energy performance.
On the show, she said: ” Both with your fridge and your freezer, you basically want to keep it about two-thirds full.
“So not too full, because otherwise, it has to work really hard to cool everything down.
“But also not too empty.”
Georgie added: “So if you’re maybe getting towards the end of your food shop, you can fill up some jugs of water and put them in your fridge – and then that just takes up a bit more space because basically, the air uses energy to cool it down.”
The same trick can be used for the freezer but make sure to use bottled water to avoid any spillages.
Another habit Georgie said could save you energy for your fridge is to clean it, specifically when it comes to the coils.
Found at the back of these appliances it can make cleaning them “quite a job”.
However, as revealed by Georgie cleaning the coils could make your fridge freezer “perform 25 per cent more efficiently”.
Other tips such as leaving a 5cm gap between the back of your fridge freezer and the wall to prevent overheating and making sure the fridge closes properly were also shared by the technology expert.