- Dom Littlewood visited the Matheson family in Edinburgh as they navigate increasing energy bills and the rising cost of living
- Part of a new mini-series, titled What’s Watt, Dom helped the Mathesons follow practical steps to better manage their energy use, including using their smart meter’s in-home display (IHD)
- By following the advice, the family has been able to reduce their energy bills from around £7-8 per day to under £5
- What’s Watt launches alongside the second chapter of the Super Smart Energy Savers Report, with research by Smart Energy GB revealing that 33% of Scots say that this is the first summer that they’ve taken action to reduce their energy use
Download Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MSOZzbxBt4
Video caption: Dom Littlewood and Smart Energy GB launch a new online mini-series as part of the Super Smart Energy Savers campaign, tracking the Matheson family in Edinburgh as they take steps to better manage energy use and take control of their household budgets.
A family of four in Edinburgh have made significant savings on their energy bills after taking part in a new series with presenter and consumer champion, Dom Littlewood.
Jane and John Matheson, from Edinburgh, recently moved in together along with their two children. Since doing so, their energy bills have increased by more than three times what they were paying when they lived separately.
The new mini-series, What’s Watt, created by Dom Littlewood and Smart Energy GB follows Dom as he visits families across Great Britain including the Mathesons in Edinburgh, to help them navigate increasing energy bills and the rising cost of living.
The Matheson family followed Dom’s practical advice to better manage their energy usage and help reduce their household bills by an average of £75* per month since his visit.
They’ve achieved this by following advice such as shutting doors more often, turning down the temperature on their washing machine and using their smart meter’s in-home display to monitor their energy use in near-real time in pounds and pence.
Jane Matheson said: “Since Dom’s visits we’ve been shutting doors more often, turning lights off, turning our washing machine down to 30 and only washing full loads. The tumble dryer thinks it has been made redundant, we have turned our thermostat down, ordered new insulating curtains and made enquiries about loft insulation.”
By making these small changes, Jane and John are hoping to instil positive habits in their children, so they can continue to reduce their energy usage and spending into the winter months.
The series launches as research finds that four months on from April’s energy price cap increase, over a third (33%) of Scots say this is the first summer they’ve taken action to reduce their energy use, after typically paying less attention to bills during the warmer months.
Despite many taking actions already, one in five (26%) Scots would like more advice on ways to save energy in the summer, with 25% wanting tips they haven’t heard before.
Following this demand for new tips, Dom Littlewood and Smart Energy GB have also teamed up with consumer advocates Helen Skelton and MoneyMagpie, to co-author the second chapter of the Super Smart Energy Savers Report.
The panel has been formed with combined expertise to ensure it features actionable advice to help all households manage their energy use and take control of their household budgets.
Advice from the Super Smart Energy Savers Panel includes:
Get the most out of your fans – choosing the right fan is key to staying cool and in control of your energy bills. Making sure any fans or cooling equipment you have around the house are as energy efficient as possible will reduce your consumption of electricity. The way you use your fan is important too: for example, some have timers that enable you to save energy when you’re asleep; or placing a bowl of ice in front of your fan will lower the temperature of the air circulating in the room and cool you down quicker.
Get a smart meter – smart meters ensure your bills are accurate and come with an in-home display that shows exactly how much energy is being used in near-real time and in pounds and pence, giving customers more control over their energy use. If you’re trying to reduce your energy use to keep bills down, knowing how much you are using – and what you’re spending – can be a huge help. As can knowing what the bill will be before it arrives. And they’re available at no extra cost from your energy supplier.
Switch to a summer routine – maybe you use your tumble-dryer regularly during the winter but using a tumble dryer three times a week costs approximately £223 a year**, so think about drying washing outside if you’re able to in the summer. It will dry much quicker and cost less than using a tumble-dryer.
Dom Littlewood, TV presenter and consumer advocate comments: “Filming this series and meeting the Mathesons was an eye opener. It’s clear that people have become more energy conscious this year – even though sometimes it’s one member of the home leading the change.
“Whilst households are taking lots of positive steps to manage their energy use, by working directly with families we found we were able to identify some further small steps they could take, such as getting a smart meter to monitor energy use.
“My new content series, What’s Watt, and the Super Smart Energy Savers Report offers households access to information they may not have seen before, so they have more tricks up their sleeve when it comes to taking control of their household budgets.”
Victoria Bacon, Director at Smart Energy GB, comments: “Summer is traditionally a time that energy use and bills are pushed to the back of our minds, but the increase in energy prices this year has changed that.
“With the temperatures soaring over the last couple of weeks, people are even more mindful of how much energy they’re using in the home just to keep cool and want to understand how to keep bills as low as possible.
“Understanding your energy use can have a big impact on habits – shown by how much more those with smart meters are reducing their energy bills compared to those without. It’s difficult to change what you can’t see, so using a smart meter’s in-home display to monitor energy use in near-real time helps you stay in control.”
To download the report visit – https://smartenergygb.org/super-smart-energy-savers
To view the What’s Watt mini-series visit – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MSOZzbxBt4