As Northern Ireland’s energy companies join together to celebrate Energy Aware Week this October, OFTEC, which represents the domestic oil heating industry, today issued an “Energy Savings Challenge” to householders that could help them save up to £50 per month on their energy bills.

Energy Aware Week, which runs from 13th - 19th October, is a joint initiative by Northern Ireland energy companies to increase awareness of energy efficiency and provide homeowners with practical help and advice to make their money go further. As part of the campaign, OFTEC has issued the following money-saving tips, challenging local householders to be more energy efficient and to potentially cut their energy bills by £50 per month: Turn your thermostat down - try and keep the room at 19°C. Increasing room temperature by only 1°C, can increase heating costs by 10%. On the other hand, reducing temperature by only 1°C could end up saving almost £6 per month.

Service your boiler - If your oil boiler hasn't been serviced recently, then you could be wasting money. In fact, by servicing your boiler, you could improve your overall efficiency by 10% - saving you up to £100 per year.1 Turning off standby - by properly switching off those appliances that often sit on standby at the mains, such as computer screens and DVD players, householders can make a saving of £4 per month, which adds up to almost £50 a year.

Swap to energy saving light bulbs - by making the easy switch from regular to energy saving light bulbs, you can stand to save £55 per year on your energy bill, a saving of almost £5 per month Be water efficient – By taking a shower instead of a bath and you'll use a lot less hot water. And with a water-efficient head to your shower, you could save about £75 a year on your energy bill, or £6 per month Additional measures homeowners can take to ensure even greater long-term cost savings include: Consider switching to a condensing boiler - this change could add up to a saving of 18% on your annual oil bill. In real terms, this equates to a cost saving of £21 per month and £259 per annum for a typical 3 bedroom house.2 Fit heating controls - simple control measures including a 7 day programmer with room and cylinder thermostats and a motorised control allows you to have separate hot water and space heating. The installation of these new controls could mean a reduction in your fuel bill of up to 30%.3 Insulate your home - there’s no point in heating your house if the heat is then lost. By injecting foam into the cavity in your walls, you can make a monthly saving of almost £10 a month.

Fit draught stripping across doors - eliminating small draught gaps can lead to a significant saving of around £100 a year, or £8 per month.

David Blevings, Ireland Manager of OFTEC commented: “Energy Aware Week is all about highlighting the ways that homeowners can become more energy smart. The week is a chance to inform homeowners on the small changes they can make to cut their energy bills, often at no cost. There are additional measures homeowners can also take which do require initial investment but these can provide even greater savings in the long term.”