The energy price cap is rising and it’s estimated that the average householder’s gas and electricity bill could rise by £700 a year. We know that every penny matters at the moment, especially as you enter retirement and start to examine your finances. You might want to finally go on that once in a lifetime holiday, renovate your home or just keep up the standard of living you’re used to.

As we’ve outlined in our other blogs, releasing tax-free cash from your home can help with all of these things – and will also be able to help you cover your bills as the price of energy increases.

Here at Access Equity Release, we speak to homeowners on a daily basis and we wanted to give some tips on what you can do to reduce the impact of this rise, which is affecting millions of UK households.

Here are some small changes you could make which could reduce the impact of the rise.

  1. Get your boiler serviced – a service will make sure it is burning fuel as efficiently as possible.
  2. Draught-proof your house – this can be a cheap way of making sure you’re not losing any precious heat. Plug and fill any gaps in your window and door frames, floorboards and loft hatches.
  3. Insulate your home – if your house was built between 1920 and 1990 it is likely to have cavity walls which can cause your house to lose a lot of heat. Filling these will make a huge difference. It’s also worth looking at your loft, pipes and hot water tank as these can all also be insulated to make your home as efficient as possible.
  4. Turn down your thermostat – keep your house heated to the lowest comfortable temperature. The Energy Saving Trust says for every 1°C you lower your thermostat, you knock £80 off your annual heating bill.
  5. Consider installing solar panels – the Energy Saving Trust says having these on your home could save you £475 a year.
  6. Wash your clothes at 30°C and reduce your tumble dryer and dishwasher use.
  7. Switch off standby – you can save around £55 a year by turning your appliances off standby mode.
  8. Turn off your lights when you leave a room and use LED lightbulbs to save even more energy.
  9. Swap a few of your baths for a shower each week and keep your shower time to around four minutes to save £70 a year.
  10. Draw your curtains – this will stop you from losing heat through the windows and insulate your windows from the cold outside.

By following some of these tips you will be able to reduce your monthly bill payments and hopefully use the cash you release for the more exciting things you have planned!

:: Use our Equity Release Calculator to work out how much cash you could release.

It is important to take expert advice on equity release before deciding whether it is right for you. Contact us to find out more from one of our highly trained advisors.