As most of us know, energy efficiency is being drilled into us from multiple angles nowadays – and it’s for a very good reason.

There are some industries which are more targeted than others, and we all probably have an opinion on this.

Sometimes, it’s about looking closer to home though. Particularly when winter arrives, a lot of us make some schoolboy mistakes which mean that our home is leaking energy from left, right and center – and our bills are impacted as well.

It would be fair to say that some areas of the world are more guilty of this than others, and this can be highlighted through this graph we found on Reddit which shows the problems regionally. However, for the purposes of today’s article, let’s take a look at our own energy mistakes.

You don’t lock your windows

Hopefully, as the theme of this first tip might suggest, today’s article is all about actionable advice that you’ve perhaps not heard before.

Locking your windows is clearly essential from a security perspective, but it also works wonders from an energy preservation point of view as well.

Why does this matter? Put simply, every time you turn the key, you are strengthening the seal in the window. Now that this seal is tight, it means the chances of cold air seeping into your home are much lower.

You can also add foam weather stripping or plastic film to further reduce drafts.

You put your thermostat too high

We’ve all been there. We’ve come home and found that the heating hasn’t been on.

What do we do as a result? We ramp the temperature up to the absolute maximum.

Unfortunately, all this is doing is skyrocketing your bills. Just because you have set an almightily high figure, it doesn’t mean to say that it’s going to heat up any quicker. It won’t, and your boiler will just be working for longer periods of time to try and get to the unrealistic levels you’ve asked for.

Using a smart thermostat is a great way to solve this problem and eliminate the human element.

The opposite rules apply as well

We’ve just talked about setting your thermostat too high, but the opposite applies as well. If you’re very conscious about saving money, it’s not uncommon to dial down your thermostat if you happen to be out of the house.

The problem is, all this does is create problems later down the line. Your furnace will have to work considerably harder when you do arrive home, just to get your house back to your new desired temperature.

Here’s what experts had to say on best practices.

You use your fireplace to heat your home

It feels like a good idea at the time but trust us, it isn’t in the slightest. As much as a fireplace can provide instant relief from the cold, the benefits are very short-lived.

Most of the hot air that you generate goes straight back out of the chimney, while it goes without saying that this chimney is also going to let in plenty of cold air.

It might take a little longer, but your boiler is a much more sustainable method of heating.