Energy Saving Guide

Take control of your household energy use

We know energy saving tips are everywhere at the moment, and it can be hard to know which ones will save you the most and are worth sticking to. So we’ve put together some tips and tools to help you take control of your energy use and save on your bills.

• Energy diary & tracker
• Check your appliances' energy usage
• Kitchen: cooking & food storage tips
• Utility room: laundry & cleaning tips
• Living spaces: washing, grooming & recreation tips
• Work from home tips
• Home heating tips
• Payment support
• Energy market explainer

Energy diary and tracker

Use our energy diary and tracker to better understand your home energy costs

By recording the amount of energy each of your appliances uses and the length of time each one is used for, you’ll be able to see how much it costs to run every appliance in your home.

This might help you to identify the areas where you could reduce your energy use.

Not sure how much energy your appliances use?

Don’t worry! We’ve made a list of some common household appliances, how much energy they use** and what they cost* to run, to help you get started.

^{* Based on Bord Gais Energy’s’ standard electricity Urban 24 Hour tariff rate of 48.19 c/kWh (inc. VAT as of 2 October 2022). Final electricity bills also include an annual standing charge and PSO Levy.}

^{** Please note: all figures stated are based on the average energy consumption of relatively new, mid-range appliances with average energy efficiency. Please check the wattage of your own appliance for greater accuracy. A new rating scale for appliances was launched in 2021, see here for more info on the new rating system.}

Kitchen: cooking and food storage

Cooking

Cooking is one of the most energy-intensive activities in the home, here are some simple ways you can save energy in the kitchen.

1. Choose the right pots and pans

• Flat-bottomed pots and pans allow heat to disperse more evenly
• Cookware with copper on the bottom heat up faster than other materials
• Putting lids on your pots and pans speeds up cooking time
• Match the size of your pan to the hob you’re using to avoid wasting energy
• Glass or ceramic dishes are most efficient when cooking in the oven, so you can cook at a lower temperature or for a shorter time

2. Cook extra

• Batch cook different meals in the oven at the same time
• Reheating food (particularly using a microwave) is much more energy efficient than starting from scratch
• Slow cookers and air fryers are more energy-efficient alternatives to the oven if you haven’t had time to batch cook
• But don’t boil extra! A very common tip but a good habit to get into – only boiling the amount of water you need can save a lot of energy over time
• Avoid opening your oven door too often during cooking – you can lose up to 20% of the oven’s heat doing this so it has to work harder to maintain its temperature
• Make use of the heat that has built up during cooking by turning off the oven for the last few minutes of cooking time

Fridge and freezer 

There’s no way around your fridge and freezer using electricity all day, every day. So to help you avoid any wasted energy use, we’ve put together some tips on keeping them running efficiently.

1. Set your fridge and freezer to the right temperature 

Make sure you’re not wasting energy (and food) by setting your fridge between 2-3°C and your freezer at -15°C

2. Avoid overpacking

Aim to keep 20% of the space free – overloading your fridge forces it to use more energy to stay cold

3. Close the door 

• It takes about 45 minutes for your fridge to get back to its original temperature if the door is open for just 10-20 seconds.
• Knowing what you’re going to take out of the fridge before you open it and making sure the door is closed fully afterwards will help minimise electricity use

4. Let your food cool before putting it into the fridge or freezer

Putting hot food in your fridge will make it have to work extra hard to cool down the food and keep the fridge at the correct temperature

5. Don’t put your fridge beside the dishwasher or oven 

Having appliances that expel heat (like an oven or dishwasher) beside your fridge and freezer will make them use more energy to stay cold

6. Defrost your freezer every 6 months (or when the frost is ¼ of an inch thick)

Utility room: laundry and cleaning

Washing

• Wash clothes at 30°C if possible
• Use 'Eco' settings – even if they take longer, they’re more energy efficient
• Wait until you have a full load to wash rather than doing two half loads
• If you’ve a smart meter and are on a Time of Use plan, using your washing machine or tumble dryer at the time when your electricity tariff rates are lower will save you money

Drying

• This is an obvious one, but avoiding using a tumble dryer will save a lot of energy
• When you do use a tumble dryer, make sure to put heavy and light clothes into separate loads
• Heated clothes airers can be a good compromise for winter days – they’re quite cheap to run (about 14c per hour) and you’ll get the benefit of the residual heat in the room that they’re in

Living spaces: washing, grooming and recreation

As you can see, most of the devices we use for recreation don’t use as much energy as those for cooking and cleaning! However, there are some simple changes you can make to help reduce your energy consumption in these areas too.

1. Unplug or switch off devices at the socket when you’re not using them 

Appliances on standby use about 20% of the energy they would consume if they were being actively used. So, for example, if you watch 3 hours of television a day and the other 21 it’s on standby, by switching it off completely when not in use, you could save over €76 a year

2. Take slightly shorter showers

If you can reduce your time in the shower by 3 minutes a day, you could save about €83 a year

3. Modern electric blankets are more energy efficient than they used to be 

They now cost about 7c an hour to run (depending on which setting you use), so used sparingly they can be an efficient solution for staying warm during cold winter nights

Work from home

Working from home can increase your energy bills, but there are a few simple things you can do to reduce unnecessary energy use.

• Fully shut down or unplug devices when they’re charged or not in use
• Switch to LED bulbs - traditional bulbs use about 6 times as much electricity as LED bulbs
• Set up your home office or workspace so that you’re not blocking radiators and preventing the flow of heat into the room
• When it’s not too cold outside, consider turning off radiators in rooms you don’t use regularly. Or try using a portable heater instead of central heating if you spend most of the day in one room

Home heating

Making sure your home is warm enough when it's cold outside isn’t something to compromise on. So, we’ve put together some ways you can make sure your heating is running efficiently and you’re not wasting energy to keep your home cosy.

1. Maintenance is important for energy efficiency 

• Bleed your radiators regularly 
• Service your boiler every year

2. Take control of your heating

• You may already be doing this, but reducing your central heating by 1°C can lower your overall heating bills by 10%
• Use timers or smart heating controls so your heating only comes on when it’s needed
• Use the radiator valve to turn the temperature down or to turn off the radiator completely in rooms you’re not in a lot
• Set your gas boiler at 65-70°C and your hot water temperature to 60-65°C to help avoid overheating 
• Insulating your hot water cylinder will make it more energy efficient

Understanding and paying your bills

If you still have questions about understanding and paying your bill, we have a variety of information and supports available to you.

Reading your meter

Submitting regular meter reads improves the accuracy of your bills and helps to ensure that you only pay for the energy you use. The quickest way to submit a reading is in your online account. If you don't have an account, register now. 

If you’re unsure how they work, check out our guides on how to read your meter and on how to submit a reading.

If you have a smart electricity meter and are signed up to one of our smart plans, you don’t need to provide meter reads – they’ll be automatically submitted to ESB Networks.

Still have questions?

Visit our helpful information hub for more information on understanding and paying your energy bills. Or answer some quick questions to see what payment supports are available to best suit you and your situation.

Energy market explainer and latest news

There has been exceptional volatility in the energy market lately. The post-pandemic increased demand for energy, reduced gas supplies from Russia and low storage levels have driven prices of wholesale energy up dramatically. This, in turn, has led to higher energy prices for consumers. 

We've answered some key questions to help you understand what's caused the current energy crisis, its latest developments and what can be done to manage its effects.