5 Unusal ways to cut your energy bills

So the clocks have gone back and the British weather seems to be turning colder by the day. With the regularity of day turning to night, temperatures plummet and energy bills go up.

Everyone is stocking up on items to keep them warm over the winter months, Amazon suggest sales of everything from electric blankets or hot water bottles have gone through the roof.

Whilst these traditional methods of keeping warm are effective, here are some much quirkier ways to heat your home - as well as reduce your bills.

1) Radiator Booster

For about £25 you can cut your heating bills by up to 10 percent with a radiator booster. It sits on the top of your radiator and makes sure you don't lose any heat trapped behind the radiator, distributing it around the room. It makes a slightly audible sound, but its a small price to pay for saving energy and heating up your room more quickly.


2) Chop-Cloc


Chop-Cloc is a gadget that automatically turns the heating off in your home for a short time each hour "without you noticing any difference in comfort." This can save you up to 16 percent on your heating bill, claims Nigel's Eco Store, which sells the gadget for £69.99.

It works in a similar way to a thermostat, however due to where thermostats are usually placed - in colder areas such as the hall - they can cost you more because they come on earlier and more frequently than is optimum.

3) Eco-Flap

Draughts can lose you up to 30 percent of all the heat from your house, this can be down to gaps in the doors, windows, floors, cat flaps and your letterbox. Eco-Flap solves one of these problems, it replaces your letterbox. It stays shut constantly - regardless of winds - stopping any heat from escaping, saving you money. It can be purchased for around £25 and can be purchased at ecoflap.co.uk

4) Thermal Wallpaper

Insulation is a great way to save money on heating bills, however getting your home insulated can be a very costly business. Thermal wallpaper is a cheap way of insulating walls in your home. A 4mm-thick 15 metre roll made out of Wallrock Fibreliner costs around £100 and can be bought from most DIY stores. 

There are cheaper alternatives available, polystyrene wallpaper is around £9 for a 4mm-thick 10 metre roll - although it is said to be

less effective.

Insulating wallpaper traps more of the start-up heat inside, as opposed to it being sucked out by the cold walls or ceiligns - this reduces warm up times significantly. It works best on solid brick or stone walls.

5) Insulating Windows with film or cling film

You can buy enough window insulating film to cover four windows from Amazon for as little as £10, or if you're a DIY fiend crack open the cling film from the kitchen. This can be seen as economical alternative to double glazing and the insulating film could retain up to 55percent of your homes heat in the winter. 

By providing a second barrier to heat transfer, it creates a very basic – and inexpensive – ‘double glazing’ system. The film also has the potential to stop draughts coming into the home through poorly-fitting windows, making the room feel warmer.