Soaring energy prices have had a huge impact on the way we live our lives, with many of us looking at ways to conserve energy and keep our household bills low (especially with high winter heating bills looming).
Luckily, having a few useful gadgets in place around the home can alleviate some of the cost of living stress by making it a bit easier to save money in the long run.
Here are our top energy-saving gadget picks.
1. Love is in the Air… fryer ♥️
If we are talking kitchen essentials, an Air Fryer is an absolute must-have. Despite being invented by Philips in 2010, the innovative kitchen appliance has sky-rocketed in popularity in recent years. According to Argos, they sold 1.6 air fryers per minute in the first week of September 2022.
Cooking videos on TikTok have created a huge surge in demand for the appliance, with the hashtags #airfryer and #airfryerrecipes receiving a combined total of 6.4 billion views to date!
Brits seeking more energy-efficient ways to cook will be pleasantly surprised by the running costs of an air-fryer in comparison to an oven. The total energy cost of cooking chips for example will cost approx. 14.62p in an air fryer and 35.38p in a fan-assisted oven. Now, this seems like a tiny difference but over time, it can make a saving of approximately £146 a year.
There are a range of air-fryers in different shapes and sizes available online, so it’s worth having a search to look at which one would be best for you. The Ninja 3.8L Air Fryer and Dehydrator – AF100UK1 is a top seller, you can pick one up here. RRP: £130.00
2. These light bulbs are delightful 💡
In the UK, keeping the lights on at home makes up approximately 15% of the average electricity bill, with standard incandescent bulbs costing the most.
Did you know that doing a simple low-cost switch to energy-saving bulbs could help to reduce your electricity bill?
According to Uswitch you could save roughly £6 a year per bulb which initially doesn’t seem like huge savings, but when you take into account that the average home contains 12 light bulbs, that’s a saving of £72 a year.
Energy-saving light bulbs are of course greener too, converting 95% of their energy into light and emitting 5% as heat in comparison to the 90-98% of energy being emitted as heat in standard light bulbs.
Save money, energy and light up your life with some energy-saving light bulbs. Wilko is currently doing an offer of 3 bulbs for £8 here.
3. Vacuum your way to suck-cess with the Henry Eco 🍃
You’ve heard of the Henry hoover, well meet his even friendlier, green cousin Henry Eco. With its big puppy dog eyes and smile, this vacuum cleaner has become a bit of a British icon since it was invented in 1970. Known for being small and mighty, Henrys really do pack a punch with many boasting that theirs have lasted over 20 years.
Now, Henrys are competitively priced compared to other brands such as Dyson and Shark, which is another reason it’s one of the nation’s favourites but with the Henry Eco, it also uses 30% less energy too.
With the average household vacuuming for 30 minutes a week, standard vacuum cleaners could cost up to £30 a year on average while a Henry Eco would cost £21.
You can pick up a Henry Eco vacuum cleaner here. RRP: £159.98
4. There’s nothing shocking about this electric blanket ⚡
Using an electric blanket can be a great way to keep electricity costs down without having to compromise on comfort. For those cosy moments when you are in one spot on the sofa or in bed, it can be more cost-effective to swap central heating for an electric blanket and focus on heating yourself or your furniture as opposed to the space around you.
The Dreamland Anti-Bacterial Heated Underblanket is made from a soft microfleece fabric and has a fast heat function that can warm up an entire bed in just 5 minutes.
According to Ofgem one kWh of electricity now costs around 52p so to get a rough indication of how much an electric blanket is to run, we have to do some maths… let’s take the 150W Dreamland Anti-Bacterial Heated Underblanket as an example. If we convert the kilowatts into watts (150W to 0.15kWh) and then multiply that by the pence per unit, it would cost approximately 7.8p to run at full power for an hour. Not bad at all!
It costs a medium household approximately £609 a year to power central heating, so even if you were to use an electric blanket for four hours a day every day during the winter, you would only spend £297.60 per year. That’s an enormous saving.
Interested in ordering an electric blanket? We’ve got you covered. You can check out the Dreamland Anti-Bacterial Heated Underblanket here. RRP: £54.99
5. Now, this is really smart – The Hive Smart Thermostat Mini 🌡️
As it gets colder, it’s really easy to get up in the morning, put the central heating on full blast and then totally forget to switch it off or put it on a timer when you leave the house… nightmare. This is where a Smart Thermostat comes in. This super clever device’s geolocation services can detect if you’ve left the house with the heating on and automatically turn it off, saving you from haemorrhaging money on heating an empty house.
Considerably cheaper than the original Hive Thermostat at £109.98, the Hive Mini has a range of really useful options for conserving energy and keeping costs low including holiday modes, a scheduling feature, and heating boosts for when the weather turns extra chilly.
On average you can save up to 31% on your heating bill using a smart thermostat, which means savings of up to £188.79 a year.
You can get it on Amazon right now for £109.98 here.
6. It’s a brew-tiful day with the Russell Hobbs Illuminating Glass Kettle 🫖
According to the Energy Saving Trust, the average Brit boils their kettle four times a day at a cost of £203.72 per year! Now, this is already substantially less than the cost of 4 daily Starbucks beverages but with this particular kettle, you could save even more.
Boasting a 66% increase in energy efficiency over typical kettles, the Russell Hobbs 21600-10 Illuminating Glass Kettle has a one-cup setting to ensure you only boil the amount of water needed and switching to an energy-saving kettle could save you around £25 a year. Again, every little helps.
Don’t be ‘latte’ to the party, get yourself one of these kettles here. RRP: £42.00
7. Water you doing without one of these? 🚿
The average Brit uses a whopping 50 litres of water per shower which equates to approximately £219 per person per year!
The Methven Aurajet RUA Shower Handset is one of the most water-efficient shower heads on the market. Despite its futuristic halo-shaped design, the ‘Aurajet’ technology means that you still get the full-bodied spray of a conventional shower, while using nearly 40% less water per shower. This could mean savings of up to £87.60 a year on the water bill.
You too can ‘rain’ supreme with your very own water-efficient shower head. RRP: £38.98
At SO-SURE we use clever anti-fraud technology to keep insurance costs low for our customers.
If you choose to pick up one of these energy-saving gadgets, you can cover them by clicking the green button below.
And if you’re super careful, you could get money back…
At SO-SURE, community = cashback rewards. Think of it as a piggy bank for careful customers. The more friends and family you connect with, the more money goes into the piggy bank. And then, if no one needs it, you all get it back. You can learn more about our Reward Pot here.