10 Simple Tips for Energy Saving and play the British Gas Smart Meter Maze Game #BritishGasSmarterLiving

None of us are immune to the rising cost of energy and its not just any one supplier who's put up their prices in recent years. It's a fact of life that we now use far more technology than in the past and as such our energy bills are rising. We don't have to just accept the cost increases and be passive though, there are of course energy saving measures that we can take to help both our pockets and the bigger environmental world picture.

Image thanks to British Gas

Energy Smart Meters
I'm really pleased to be working with British Gas, which serves around 11 million homes and provides energy to several hundred thousand UK businesses. As well as offering gas, electricity and boiler care services to the nation’s homes for over 200 years, British Gas is committed to making a difference. They are part of a Government initiative to improve energy efficiency in Great Britain and as such are offering smart meters to all customers by 2020. You'd receive one for your gas and one for your electricity.

I suspect you've probably heard people talking about smart meters but you might not yet be aware of what they do and just how much of a benefit they will be to your home and energy spending. The installation of smart meters will improve the accuracy of your bill by communicating your usage directly to British Gas and will allow you to view your energy use in the currency as you use it, thus encouraging you to turn appliances off and use less energy. It's simple and that's the beauty of it. Nothing complex, just straightforward information you can take steps from and thus save energy and ultimately money.

A Fun Game to Play
Most people know the basics of energy-saving and more of us are now double or triple glazing our windows, timing our heating and insulating our roofs but there are so many small and simple ways to help you actively manage your energy consumption and British Gas have designed a fun game to play, which will help you learn as you go.

I rarely play online games and as such I am a bit useless, so when I tried the Smart Meter Maze Game I totally failed on level one but that kicked in my competitive streak and I didn't want the game to beat me so I did fairly well on levels 2 (3000 points) and 3 (4000 points) and by level 4 I was feeling a bit rubbish again (1250 points). I've played a few times now and I'm pleased to say that I can fly through the five levels. I got 10750 on the final level. Go Mich!



The game is Pac-Man in style and you have to move around the maze using the arrows on the screen or on your keypad turning off all the lights before the teenagers turn them back on again (I love that bit, it's so true, my tweens and teen are terrible). You can also score extra points for running over appliances, so I got 250 points for a kettle and 750 for a microwave. I was quite amazed at the thrill I felt getting those!

Go on, give the game a go and let me know what score you got. Can you beat me?

Child hand turning off light by Dfchannel Studio, thanks to Shutterstock

So now you've played the game and seen the videos, are you feeling more empowered to start taking measures to save energy in your home? I do hope so and here are 10 quick and easy tips you can follow to really ensure you see some money savings.

10 Easy Ways to ensure Energy isn't Wasted in your Home

1. Hang your washing outside and don't tumble it. Not only will it smell nicer but you will save a lot of energy
2. Read the instruction booklets/ online guidance with any new appliance. Loads of us waste energy by not using our new appliance efficiently
3. Use low-temperature washes. My washing machine is so eco that I have a cold wash and it still cleans everything brilliantly. It's not like the old days where we had to wash at 40 or 50 to get a good clean result. 
4. Bulk cook. Did you realise that by cooking multiple meals in one go and freezing them or storing in the fridge for use in the next couple of days you would save energy?
5. The old tricks are the best, just put the right amount of water in the kettle, if you fill it full every time for one cup, that's really wasteful.
6. Check your water temperature. I bet that if you turn it down 2 or 3 degrees you won't even notice in the shower or when washing up, but the energy-saving will soon start adding up.
7. Only use the dishwasher when it is full (unless it has a half wash function of course). This not only saves energy but water consumption too.
8. Don't leave appliances or gadgets on standby. Your smart meter will soon show you what is discreetly using up too much energy. Turn off printer, DVD players, laptops, microwaves, TV's, phone chargers etc when they are not in use. 
9. Keep your fridge full for it to work optimally. I had no idea until recently that empty space means the fridge has to work harder.
10. Lastly this one is one everyone knows but I suspect many do not do. Turn your heating thermostat down. Even 1 degree can make a big difference to your yearly bill and after all you can just put on a jumper!

Just think what you can do with the extra money if you save some on your energy costs. Personally, I think I'll go shopping with the savings and maybe treat myself to a new stylish cardigan for the winter and that way I can class it as an investment as it will help me keep my thermostat lower in the winter months, lol!

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Disclosure: This post is a promotional feature in association with British Gas® but all thoughts are my own