Your five best tips to cut your energy bills

Cripes, the first two tips are easy, if drastic. Don’t partner up. And definitely don’t have children.

The energy company must hate it when I’m home. Lights get turned off and doors get closed. I’m the only person who seems to know how to do either. It’s a full-time job.

On the 12-metre walk from my morning shower to my bedroom, I turn off eight lights and fans.

My little DebtGirl is proud that she sometimes remembers to turn off lights. Just sometimes, bless her. And DebtBoy, to be fair, can often be found sitting in a dark room doing something. He just couldn’t be bothered lighting the room in the first place.

When I was feeling cold as a kid, my dad had some pretty simple advice. “Put a bloody jumper on!” Effective, and cheap.

Turn the house thermostat down a degree. A one degree drop (from, say, 21 to 20 deg.) cuts energy usage by about 10 per cent.

In summer, air conditioners are a massive power drain. Buy a couple of fans. It’s far cheaper than cooling an entire house.

Aunty Kerrin (right) has some great ideas, regarding saving energy. We’ll be going roof-top solar when we renovate.

And a note … not all energy-saving devices are worth the pain. We once got a device for the TV, Foxtel and DVD player. But it then took about two minutes to “warm up” to be able to watch TV.

Put your energy suppliers to the test. Are you getting the best deal? They’re easy to compare and switch nowadays.

Bruce Brammall is the principal adviser with Bruce Brammall Financial (www.brucebrammall.com.au) and author of Mortgages Made Easy.