Martin Lewis says anybody with fridge must make essential 2 setting change or ‘lose cash’
Personal finance guru has shared a number of ways to cut bills this month – and some are really common mistakes that people across the UK are making
Martin Lewis has urged everyone with a fridge to adjust 2 settings as millions are ‘squandering far too much cash’.
The personal finance guru discussed his energy-saving recommendations on his ITV programme – and this month the Money Saving Expert website he established refreshed its guidance, confirming they remain current.
He explained that households throughout the UK are making a significant error with their fridges – setting them excessively cold and consequently consuming more electricity whilst inflating their bills.
According to the Food Standards Agency, he noted, refrigerators should be maintained at 5°C whilst freezers ought to be kept at -18°C.
He said: “About heating your fridge. 5 degrees is what your fridge needs to be set to. -18 your freezer. If it’s colder, you’re wasting too much money.”
Regarding another matter, he revealed people are filling their baths incorrectly: “We’re all guilty of this, me included. You run a hot bath, you run a shower, and you add cold to it, don’t you? So what are you doing? You’re paying to pop your heat up on the hot water and then it’s too hot, so even though you’ve paid for it, you’re now mixing it with cold water to reduce the temperature.
“Makes no sense, lower your hot water temperature. 55 degrees is the recommendation. On a combi boiler and it’s quite easy to do on a combi boiler. It’s slightly higher and more complex for other boilers. Just bring the temperature down, you don’t need it to be too hot. If you’ve got a cylinder on your hot water tank, if you haven’t got a jacket on it, a 15 quid jacket could save you 50, 60 quid a year on insulation.”
Regarding heating, Mr Lewis urged people to inspect their radiators thoroughly. He remarked: “I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist. Don’t be afraid to touch your knob. What I mean by this is we turn our central heating on, we haven’t checked our radiators. All the rooms are heating, even the ones you’re not using. If you’ve got rooms in your house, you’re lucky enough to to have rooms you don’t use, make sure the radiator’s turned off.
“But when you turn the central heating on the first time, you only want the radiators on in the rooms you’re using. We all know this, it’s not rocket science. We just don’t all do it.”
Even telly watching can contribute to savings: “We watch 4 hours a day on average. Put it on a low energy setting, we’ll save you a little bit of money.”
