Saving energy and water at home

Heating

• The room thermostat. Each degree by which it is turned down reduces the energy used for heating. Health guidance puts the lowest comfortable setting for most people at around 18 degrees, with warmer rooms for the very young, the old and the ill.
• The timer. Heating is set to come on shortly before the house is occupied and to go off before it empties.
• Radiator valves. Thermostatic valves allow bedrooms and unused rooms to be kept cooler than living rooms.
• The boiler's flow temperature. A condensing combination boiler works most efficiently when the water it sends to the radiators is no hotter than about 60 degrees. Many are installed set far higher, and the control is on the front of the boiler.
• Radiators are bled when they are cold at the top, and not covered by furniture or drying clothes.

Where there is a hot water cylinder, its thermostat is kept at 60 degrees: lower settings allow legionella bacteria to grow.

The largest reductions come from keeping the heat in, which is the subject of insulating a home.

Appliances and lighting

• The label. Appliances are graded from A to G on a scale that was reset in March 2021, so that very few products reach A. Labels on older stock using A+, A++ and A+++ belong to the previous scale and are not comparable.
• Washing. Most of the energy in a wash cycle goes on heating the water. Full loads at 30 degrees use much less than part loads at 40 or 60.
• Drying. A tumble dryer is among the most energy-hungry appliances in a house. Heat-pump models use far less than vented or condenser types, and a washing line uses none.
• Cooking. Lids on pans, a kettle filled only with what is needed, and a microwave or small oven in place of a large one for small quantities.
• Lighting. LED lamps use a fraction of the electricity of the halogen lamps they replace.
• Standby. Equipment left on standby draws a little power continuously; switching off at the wall stops it.

Knowing what is used

A smart meter is fitted by the energy supplier at no charge and comes with a display that shows consumption as it happens, which is the quickest way to find out what a household's habits cost. Prices on standard tariffs in Great Britain are limited by a cap that the regulator, Ofgem, resets every three months.

Households that include someone of pension age, with a disability or with a long-term illness can join their supplier's Priority Services Register, which gives advance warning of interruptions and priority in an emergency.

Water

The Environment Agency's review of the water industry reports that average consumption in England in 2024–25 was 136.5 litres a person a day, that about 63 per cent of households pay by meter, and that around 19 per cent of the water put into supply is lost through leaks before it reaches a tap.

• Showers. A short shower uses much less water, and much less energy, than a bath. A long one under a powerful shower does not.
• Toilets. A cistern that runs continuously into the pan can waste hundreds of litres a day unnoticed. A few drops of food colouring in the cistern, appearing in the pan without a flush, show the leak.
• Taps are turned off during tooth-brushing and shaving, and dripping ones are fixed.
• Machines are run full.
• Gardens. A water butt on a downpipe collects rain for plants. In a drought a water company may impose a temporary ban on hosepipes, and breaking it is an offence.

In England and Wales a household can ask its water company to fit a meter free of charge, and for a small household in a large house a meter usually lowers the bill. Water companies also give away water-saving fittings. In Scotland most households are not metered and pay for water with their council tax.

Shopping and waste

Retailers in all four nations must charge for single-use carrier bags. Food thrown away is the largest avoidable waste in most households, and since March 2026 every council in England has had to collect it separately, as described under household recycling.