Whether we are just getting by or have a healthy salary, it seems to be human nature to want and spend as little money as possible on necessities.  Finding ways to game the system, save through intelligent use, and innovate new techniques to reduce cost is a popular past time of those looking to get the most out of the least.

This is especially true when it comes to UK energy.  Every household seems to have its own special way to save on power use.  In addition, the Internet has provided every person with thousands of tips and tricks regarding what works and what does not work when it comes to saving on energy bills.

The confusing thing about all this information is that a lot of it is simply not true.  With there being so many energy saving myths out there, people are spending real time and energy trying things that are known to not work.

If you are interested in saving money on your energy bill, then keep reading.  We will review some of the lesser-known myths around saving on energy usage to see what works and what doesn’t work.  This includes a review of whether or not turning your boiler down will save money, heating one room verses a house with gas fire, energy usage in chargers, and finally screen savers.

Turning your Boiler Down

When most people consider heating expense, they go right to one of the largest users of energy in the home, the boiler.  However, there are a number of conflicting reports as to whether or not turning the boiler down decreases a monthly energy bill.  Well lets get right in it.

Whether or not turning a boiler down will save you energy is dependent entirely on whether or not you have a thermostat in your home.  Turning your boiler down will save you energy in a home that does not have a thermostat.  This means that you can turn it down as low as you are comfortable with.  If your home does have a thermostat, then turning your boiler down will not save you on your energy bill.  This is because the thermostat will turn on the boiler whenever the room is not the temperature it needs to be.  If this is the case, then save energy by turning your boiler all the way up, and reduce the amount of time your boiler has to be on for.

Heating One Room With Gas Verses Your Entire House

Some people believe that you can save on electricity by heating one room verses an entire home.  This is based off of the belief that because you are only heating a single room, it will require less gas in total.

The truth is that this does not always save you money.  A thermostat in your home will turn central heating on and off when needed.  A gas fire burner will have to be manually operated, leading to a greater waste of energy then having an efficient system set up in your home.

Energy Usage In Chargers

With the advent of portable electronic devices, phones, and laptops, there are a great number of charges out there.  It is believed that these chargers constantly use energy regardless of whether or not something is plugged into them.  So, does unplugging these chargers when they are not being used save on energy?

For the most part, yes.  Every charger is different in regards to whether or not they use electricity if nothing is plugged in the other end.  The best way to be sure is to always leave them unplugged when you are not using them.  If you do not want to unplug your charges all the time, then consider the following rule of thumb.  Feel your charger for warmth.  If it is warm when nothing is pugged in, then it is using electricity regardless.  Always unplug these when they are not being used.

Screen Savers

When it comes to computers, everyone loves having their own screen saver.  Seen as a mix of form and function, these screen savers are believed to save energy use.  Is this true?

Simply put, no, this is not true.  Screen savers came around during a time a monitor could be damaged if any image on the monitor was held for to long.  The screen saver helped to stop this from happening.  Along the road, saving power was attached to what the screen saver did.  In truth, the screen saver is a program run by the computer on top of everything else.  Consider sleeping or hibernating your computer instead.  While this does bot always decrease power consumption, it does help.  If you really want to save power, then turn off your monitor and unplug it. The monitor uses a great deal of power and is better left unplugged incase it passively uses power.