5 Eco-Friendly Products That’ll Reduce Your Energy Bills

You don’t have to live in a mud-hut and devote your life to the earth and trees to be eco-friendly. As the world becomes more environmentally conscious and aware of ever-increasing energy bills, companies are jumping on the chance to offer greener products. And with the biggest everyday consumers of energy being in your home, there are plenty of opportunities for you to do your bit for the environment, while also cutting energy costs. It’s win-win. 1. LED bulbs OK, so we’re obviously going to push LEDs - but there’s good reason, trust us. Lighting is the second highest consumer of energy in your home, so it makes sense to switch to LEDs, which use a tenth of the energy of standard halogens and last 20-times longer. The saving potential is huge, with a single bulb guaranteed to save you hundreds over its lifetime. You’ll also be dealing with far fewer replacements over their extended lifespan. And now for the inevitable plug: you can browse our collection of LEDs, all with standard bases and fittings, here. 2. Samsung ecobubble washing machines Soon the energy performance people that award ratings will run out of pluses, especially if Samsung’s A+++ rated ecobubble washing machines are anything to go by. They’re built on a ‘wash cool, save energy’ principle. By using bubbles to wash your clothing, you can wash at 15°C and get 40°C results. Add to that a host of other features, like the protective diamond drum, LED screens and specialised stain removal programmes and you have an incredibly efficient machine on your hands. 3. Heat pump tumble dryers It took some time for tumble dryers to catch up with washing machines in terms of efficiency. While washers were proudly display A energy ratings on their detergent drawers, tumble dryers were lagging with Ds and Es. As you can imagine, they sucked up 100s of pounds a year to run, and many still do. Then came along heat pump tumble dryers. All the big brands are having a piece of this new-ish technology that basically works by reheating the air that’s already present in the dryer. So now you have dryers like the Bosch Serie 6 WTW85490GB and LG RC8055AH2Z boasting A++ ratings, which is far cry from the noisy energy-guzzlers of yesteryear. 4. Shower heads Yes, even your shower head can be an eco-warrior. Take the Jetstorm, which regulates water flow to a maximum of 8 litres per-minute. This can help reduce water usage by up to 60% and save approximately £100 off water bills each year. It works by forcing air through a small hole at the handle to mix with the water, which mimics the power of a standard shower, while using considerably less energy. 5. Kettles Everybody loves a brew, which means the household kettle gets a bit of a hammering. Nevermind the trauma an office kettle undertakes day in, day out. So it makes sense that even kettles, the not-so-innocuous bystanders that they are, jump on the energy-saving bandwagon. Vektra Vacuum eco kettles are a prime example. They’re insulated, which means water can be kept hot for up to 4 hours after boiling, which will also save you time if you have a few rounds to make for friends and family over an evening. Also keep a look out for kettles that let you boil to a pre-set temperature. Not only is this greener, but also handy when you’re making fruit teas, camomiles and green teas.