I am a tenant, how can I lower my energy bills without making investments, or with only minor investments?
As landlords are responsible for making major energy-efficiency investments, tenants seem to have little influence on their energy bills, if any. But that’s not true at all. You can lower your energy bills without making investments, or with only minor investments, if you regularly check your meter readings, check which devices in your home waste the most energy, switch to a cheaper energy supplier and/or adjust your consumption.
Regularly check your meter readings
This will prevent surprises at the end of the year.
- If you have a digital meter, you could check ‘Energy Insights’ in KBC Mobile.
- If you have an analogue meter, you could consult the settlement statements or note down your meter readings every month.
Check which devices in your home waste the most energy
A power consumption meter allows you to measure the consumption of a single device.
Choose a cheaper energy supplier
Via ‘My Energy’ in KBC Mobile, for example.
If your rent is inclusive of energy costs, you could suggest a better supplier to your landlord.
Adjust your consumption
For example, try the following tips:
- Heating and cooling
- Turn down the heating, especially at night and when you are not at home (15 degrees)
- Only heat the rooms you often use
- Keep the doors closed
- Bleed and clean your radiators every year
- Refrain from drying textiles on your radiators
- Remove curtains or furniture hanging or placed in front of radiators
- In warm weather, close your sunblinds or curtains early in the morning
- In warm weather, open your windows and doors just before you go to sleep
- Lighting
- Turn off the lights when you leave a room
- Refrain from leaving the garden lights on all day and night
- Washing and drying
- Fill your washing machine to its maximum capacity
- Wash at 30 degrees
- Hang your laundry out to dry on a rack or a line
- Appliances
- Turn off appliances or disconnect the plug when you’re not using them
- Remove the charger from the socket when your smartphone is charged
- Clean the condenser coils of your fridge
- Regularly defrost your freezer
- Reduce the temperature of your water heater with tank to at least 60 degrees
This article was published on 06-10-2023. Unless expressly provided otherwise, all information you consult or obtain here is entirely without obligation and for information purposes only. The information applies exclusively to Flanders.