Why small habits add up in a Somerset home

Whether you live in a stone cottage out on the Levels, a Victorian terrace in Taunton, or a farmhouse tucked under the Mendips, most Somerset homes share one thing: they were built long before anyone worried much about insulation. Thick walls, single-glazed sash windows and a few gaps under the doors are all part of the character. They are also part of the reason the winter bill lands with such a thud.

The encouraging news is that you do not need to spend thousands to make a difference. In our experience, the daily habits a family keeps — the thermostat setting, the draughts nobody has got round to blocking, the temperature dial on the washing machine — matter just as much as the big-ticket upgrades. They cost nothing, take minutes to sort out, and quietly chip away at your monthly costs all year round.

Turn the thermostat down by one degree

This is the single simplest change you can make, and it is the one most families resist. Aim for 18°C to 19°C in the rooms you actually use. Figures regularly quoted by energy advisers suggest that dropping your setting by just one degree could save somewhere in the region of £70 to £90 a year for a typical household — and most people genuinely cannot feel the difference once they are up and moving.

The trick is to work with the timer rather than against it:

• Set the heating to come on half an hour before the family gets up, and to switch off half an hour before bedtime.
• Keep bedroom radiators turned low. A cool bedroom and a warm duvet is far cheaper than a warm bedroom and a thin one.
• Turn off radiators in spare rooms and hallways you only pass through.
• Never drape wet washing over a radiator. It blocks the heat and encourages damp.
• Keep furniture a little away from radiators so the warmth can actually circulate.

Block the draughts that steal your warmth

Cold air sneaking in around doors and windows makes a house feel far chillier than the thermostat suggests, which tempts everyone to nudge the heating up again. A Saturday morning with a few inexpensive bits from the local ironmonger can make a real difference.

• Letterboxes and keyholes: a brush flap and a small cover cost very little and stop a surprising amount of cold air.
• Doors: fabric draught excluders along the bottom of back doors and any door leading to an unheated porch or garage.
• Chimneys: if you never light the fire, a chimney balloon or draught excluder stops warm air disappearing straight up the flue. Never fit one if you do use the fireplace.
• Sash windows: self-adhesive foam or brush strip around the frame, plus a heavy lined curtain drawn at dusk.
• Floorboards and skirting: rugs help, and a bead of flexible filler along the skirting board seals gaps that let in the wind.

One small habit worth teaching the children: close the curtains at dusk, and tuck them behind the radiators rather than over the top of them.

Wash cooler and dry cleverly

Heating water is one of the hungriest jobs in the house, and most of us wash far hotter than we need to. Modern detergents are formulated to work perfectly well at low temperatures, so try 30°C as your default and 20°C for everyday loads — school uniform, jeans, towels that are not badly soiled. A cooler wash also keeps colours brighter for longer, which is a nice bonus.

Beyond the temperature dial:

• Wait for a full load. Two half-loads use roughly twice the energy of one full one.
• Use the eco setting if you have one. It runs longer but uses less energy overall.
• Choose a higher spin speed, then air dry. Clothes come out drier and spend less time in the tumble dryer.
• Dry outside whenever you can — even a breezy March day on the Levels does a decent job.
• If you must dry indoors, use a well-ventilated room and keep a window slightly open to avoid damp and mould.
• When the tumble dryer does come out, clean the filter every time and use the sensor programme rather than a timed cycle.

Make it a family habit, not a family argument

Energy saving only sticks when everyone is in on it. Rather than policing the house, hand out a few simple jobs. A four-minute shower timer in the bathroom saves both water and the gas or oil used to heat it, and children often enjoy beating the clock. Ask the last person up each evening to check the thermostat and close the curtains. Put one person in charge of switching off lights and devices left on standby each week — and rotate the job so it does not feel like a punishment.

It helps to explain the why. Show older children what a month of bills looks like, and agree that anything saved goes towards something the whole family enjoys — a day out, a takeaway, a trip to the coast. Suddenly the thermostat stops being a battleground and starts being a team effort.

Quick wins to start this week

• Turn the thermostat down one degree and reset the timer for half an hour before you get up and half an hour before bed.
• Fit a draught excluder to the back door and a brush flap to the letterbox.
• Change the washing machine to 30°C and start using full loads only.
• Close curtains at dusk and tuck them behind the radiators.
• Put a shower timer in the bathroom and aim for four minutes.
• Switch off chargers, consoles and televisions at the wall overnight.
• Book half an hour to seal the worst draughts you can find.

None of these are dramatic, and none of them will transform your bill overnight. But stacked together across a Somerset winter — and then a spring, a summer and another autumn — they add up to a noticeably lighter monthly outlay. Start with one, get it settled into family life, and add the next when you are ready.