Degrees cooler

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What

Turning down the heating (ideally using a thermostat) by just 1oC can save 340kg CO2 a year, the equivalent of leaving your TV on for 84 days straight!

What's more, it gives you a great excuse to layer up in some lovely knits and cosy fleeces.

degrees-cooler

Benefits

Benefits for people
It costs nothing to turn your thermostat down. In fact, depending on a few variables, every degree you reduce by will save you money.

Energy Savings Trust estimates that you’ll save £145 a year just by turning your thermostat down by 1 degree.

Benefits for the planet
Turning your thermostat down helps to keep the planet a little cooler too. If every household in the UK turned the heating down by 1°C, the carbon savings would be the equivalent of removing 1.7 million cars from our roads.

How

No one wants to feel cold in their own home, but there’s a lot you can do to stay warm without having to turn up the heating.

Knowledge is power.
- A thermostat automatically regulates temperature, but not all homes have one.
- If you have a thermostat, turn it down by one degree and pop on a cardigan, and, if you live in a shoe-free home, a pair of warm socks.
- No thermostat? Installing one is simple. The Energy Saving Trust has lots of information about different types of thermostats and provides impartial advice on how to heat your home efficiently.
- You could save even more energy and money by upgrading to a smart thermostat. Modern heating controls let you heat just the rooms you want, decide how warm you want each room to be, and control when the heating turns on and off.

Layer up
- Want to stay toasty without ramping up the heating? We have two words for you: thermal underwear. No? Either way, a warm underlayer plus a woolly top layer (or two) will mean you don’t have to fire up the heating so often.
- Keep your feet warm with socks and slippers, and invest in a hot water bottle to warm your bed up.

Warm up your home
- If you’ve not already done some draught busting, check out our Draught busters action for tips.
- If you’re ready for a bigger step, look into insulating your home better, a good first step is to lag your loft.

References

Turning down heating by 1 degree saves 340kg (EST). 25 million homes in the UK (BBC). 25,000,000 x 340 = 8,500,000,000 kgCO2. On average, each car drives 7,134 miles per year in 2015 (The Guardian). An average cars emissions are 0.71 kgCO2 per mile (Berners-Lee, M (2010). How Bad are Bananas?). 7,134*0.71 = 5,065 kg CO2 per year. Therefore, if everyone turned their thermostat down, it’d be like taking 8,500,000,000 / 5,065 = 1,678,183 cars off the road.

Save £145 a year with each dial down, Energy Savings Trust

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