Big Energy Save Week 2025
Published date: January 2025
Big Energy Saving Week (BESW) is back! From January 17th to the 23rd, we're here to help you save money, increase your energy efficiency and show how you can fix your tariff until spring 2026.
Throughout the UK, residents are balancing bills with energy being a frequent concern. The National Energy Action (NEA), a charity focused on fuel poverty, estimates that as of January 1, 2025, 6.1 million UK households are experiencing fuel poverty. Enhancing energy efficiency through home retrofitting, choosing the right provider, and altering our heating methods have become more crucial than ever before.
So, no matter where you are on your energy journey, now is the perfect time to gain some valuable tips, switch to a smarter tariff for your finances and make your home efficient.
The Benefits of Making Energy Efficiency Home Improvements
- Reduced energy bills
- Improves physical and mental wellbeing
- It helps to reduce your carbon footprint and lower your impact on climate change
- Increases the warmth and comfort of your home all year round
- Increases the energy efficiency rating of their property
- Potential to increase the market value of your home
How to Save Money this Energy Save week and beyond
Home energy assessment
A great place to start is by carrying out a home energy assessment, as this will give you a good idea of how your home is keeping heating in, especially in colder months. If you think of your heating as your pennies and pounds, draughts, poor installation and gaps can be seen as drains on your finances.
With our Home energy assessment guide, you can confidently carry out DIY to increase your energy savings.
Performance and Efficiency Standards of Your Home
When reviewing your home to understand where gains can be made for energy efficiency and lower bills (if you're on a variable electricity tariff), is getting to grips with the minimum energy performance standards and energy performance certificate ratings.
The Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) are regulations designed to ensure that buildings and home appliances meet a certain level of energy efficiency. These standards set a baseline for energy performance to improve overall efficiency (potentially saving you money).
The Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is a document that assesses the energy efficiency of a property in the United Kingdom. The rating is crucial in promoting efficient and low-energy cost homes, helping homeowners understand their potential consumption and running costs. An EPC rating is not just a letter grade (A-G) – it's a valuable tool that empowers you to make informed decisions about your property's energy use and its impact on your finances and the environment.
An A-rated property is like a green light, indicating low energy use and likely lower energy bills. A G-rated property is like a red light, signifying high energy consumption and potentially higher running costs.
Making changes to your home
Now you have some knowledge of how efficient your home is, the areas to improve should be clearer. If you need to update some of your less efficient appliances around your home to see you saving each month on your energy, we have a guide to ensure your needs are met and reduce the chance of paying for what you don't need. See our tips for Buying Energy-Efficient Home Appliances.
Like many of us, trying to make savings that come with an upfront investment can be hard to pay for. This is why we also have a guide to making your home energy-efficient on a budget, that takes a more behavioural approach to making your money stretch as far as it can for your home. With a focus on gas, water and electricity use that can make all the difference to your bills and home comfort. Things you can start doing today include:
- Turn your taps off when brushing your teeth or when washing up.
- Try shorter showers or baths. Did you know a four-minute shower equates to a full bath of water?
- Only open the oven door when your food is cooked, opening it causes a dramatic drop in temperature that your oven will have to use more power to then restore temperature.
Alternatively, an older home has its own requirements to maintain warmth and an ideal level of efficiency. Fittings and structures tend to be less effective at insulating, closing out gaps and age simply wears on all homes. See how you can insulate an old home for energy savings.
You may even qualify for the UK Government's home upgrade grant (HUG) that can cover a variety of energy-saving measures. The specific improvements will depend on a home survey arranged by your local council. The potential upgrades include:
- Grants for home insulation will include Wall, loft, and underfloor insulation. This traps heat within your home, reducing the amount of energy needed to maintain a comfortable temperature.
- Air source heat pumps: These innovative systems extract heat from the outside air to provide efficient heating and hot water.
- Electric radiators: Modern electric radiators offer efficient and controllable heating solutions.
How can Your Co-op Energy help you save?
Switching to a fixed home energy tariff that protects you from 2 winters' worth of price cap rises is a very effective way of keeping costs under better control for your electricity and gas.
We're also partnered with the best, Octopus Energy so not only can you save by fixing to a lower energy price, but you will also benefit from:
- 100% renewable energy
- Excellent rated service on Trustpilot
- Top 5 for energy suppliers by Citizens Advice
- No exit fees
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