Energy Saving Tips During Summer

Summer's on it's way and with it comes the promise of sun and better weather!

Not only is having more sun perfect for days out in the garden, spending time at the beach, or generally catching up on your tan, it's also great news for customers when it comes to your energy bills.

More solar energy means less energy having to be imported from the grid and we've provided some handy tips below to help you make the most of the energy you're generating:

Run appliances during daylight hours

The first of our solar energy saving tips for summer is putting those washing machines, dryers, and other appliances to work during the day. These are some of the hungriest (energy speaking) appliances in the house and so it's best to use them whilst the sun’s out and the solar panels are pumping - Peak time is 10am to 2pm. Using them when you're generating plenty of solar will also mean you're using free energy from the sun to power your biggest energy guzzlers!

It's time to get smart – use your app

Your Social Energy app is a great source of information for real time energy usage, enabling you to monitor your solar production and adjust your usage accordingly. Not only can you do this whilst you're home, as it's portable (on a phone or tablet) you can keep an eye on your household usage, even when you're not at home!

Check your panels

It's not always the easiest thing to do but checking if anything is blocking your panels can really help you save in the long run. Look out for things that could be shading your panels, buildings, trees and even antennas that shade your panels will deprive them of sun and waste valuable solar power. The best thing to do is to take a quick look and make sure your panels are making the most of the weather so that you can relax and enjoy the benefits!

Turn it off and cool down

Simple things can actually help to save you a lot of energy. Turning appliances off such as TV's, computer monitors and lights will not only help save you money, but it'll also help to keep your house cool if we're in the middle of a heatwave! Another thing you can do is to air-dry laundry. Dryers are among the most expensive electrical appliances to operate and so hanging your clothes out in the summer sun will help bring down your energy costs.