Care home energy-saving tips

This winter will be especially hard on the Health and Social care sector with the increase in the cost of living, in particular the rise in energy bills. The UK’s healthcare sector spends over £400 million on energy per year and a great deal of this energy is wasted, according to the Carbon Trust. This combined with the energy price increases results in a lot of wasted energy and money.  We’ve done the research for you and put together a list of energy-saving tips from the experts on how you can keep your energy costs down in your care homes this winter. 

Energy Saving Tips

Insulation  

Insulation plays a key role in maintaining heat in your building.  

Investing in wall, cavity or roof insulation can help keep heat in and reduce reliance on your heating system, reducing your consumption by up to £570/year.  

Simple things such as closing windows and doors where you can prevent warm air from escaping and closing curtains or blinds will also work.  

Using draft excluders at the bottom of doors will help to keep heat in, the money-saving expert even tells you how to make your own sausage dog draught excluder. 

Thermostats 

Turning your thermostat down by 1 degree will help you save 10% on your heating bill according to the Energy Saving Trust.  

If you can fit Thermostatic Radiator Valves, this allows you to change the temperature in each room, keeping residents warm without having some overheating and needing to open windows, letting heat out, making some too cold and needing to have extra layers.  

Showers 

Reducing water usage is a simple way to cut down on the water bill. Encouraging just four residents of your care or nursing home – that can replace just one bath each week with a five-minute shower could save you up to £20 each year on gas and up to £25 on water according to The Energy Saving Trust. 

Changing your shower head to a water-saving one will save you money, the money-saving expert has lots more tips and advice on water-saving devices for showers and bathrooms. 

 Lights 

Lighting is the third largest driver of care home energy bills. However, there are a few ways you can reduce this and reclaim some of your money back. 

Firstly, the simplest way is to turn out the lights when you’re not in the room. Only lighting rooms in a family household that are being used can save £20 a year, think of how much this could save you in a care home. 

Replacing lights with LED lights is a great way to save money and will quickly earn your investment back in savings according to the money-saving expert.  

 Motion sensor lights are another effective way to ensure you are not wasting money on unnecessary lighting, without having to check that all the lights are turned off. 

 Taps 

This may seem obvious but ensure that all your taps are tightened. A single dripping tap wastes 5,500 litres of water per year. Multiple leaking taps will be wasting you lots of money. 

 Don’t leave devices on standby  

The Energy Saving Trust says you can save £55. This is another small act that will add up in terms of savings.  

Most electrical appliances can be switched off at the plug without upsetting their set-up.  

These small tips will all add up to help keep some of your bills down during this hard winter.