Common kitchen habit could be adding extra £40 a year to your energy bills

14 March 2024 , 14:51

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"Bad" energy habits could be adding hundreds to your energy bills (Image: Getty Images/PhotoAlto)

One common kitchen "bad habit" could be making your energy bills more expensive - potentially by up to £40 a year.

Many Brits are guilty of some energy bad habits such as leaving lights on, doing a half load of washing, or running their dishwasher on the hottest setting. While these habits may seem inconsequential, they can potentially have a significant impact on your energy bills warns the experts at Uswitch.

Uswtich says one of the most "common" bad energy habit takes place when you're making a cup of tea. In the UK, 10 million cups of tea are drunk every day, according to the Tea Census, so it's hardly surprising that 61% of Brits claim they fill their kettles with more water than they need when making a brew. Almost a quarter of Brits say they drink up to five to six cups of tea or more a day, so it is not surprising that this simple bad habit can add up.

Based on January's price cap, Uswtich says Brits are adding £39.62 to the average £84-a-year cost of making a cup of tea if they overfill their kettles by half every time. By simply using the correct amount of water - you could save that extra cost.

Ben Gallizzi, energy expert at Uswitch, said: “We’ve all been guilty at times of leaving the lights on or overfilling the kettle, but it’s important to remember that these habits can all add hundreds of pounds a year to our bills. Bills are higher this winter than they were last year, but there are a lot of ways households can cut their energy use. Saving money might be as simple as using the eco mode on your white goods and making sure you only run them when full.”Simply getting into the habit of taking a second to consider how much water is actually needed when you boil the kettle could save you almost £40 per year.

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One way you can stop overboiling your kettle is to take note of the markings on the side. This usually has numbers which tells you roundabout how many mugs the water up to that marking would fill. If you want to be more particular, then you can measure the amount of water you need in the mugs you are filling up and pour them into the empty kettle. This helps if the mugs you are using are either a little smaller or larger than the average.

Ruby Flanagan