As the festive season warms up, it’s questionable how sustainable we can really be. Can we have a ‘green’ Christmas without forgoing our favourite traditions? As it turns out, it is possible. Here are the top tips and hacks for a more eco-conscious season.

Reducing your energy usage is a great way to lower your carbon footprint and help manage your energy bills.

The festive season is a time where energy use goes up, at home and in businesses around the country. As a result, it’s important to focus on simple, day to day activities to conserve energy.

We’ve all been there, left the house in a hurry and realised we’ve left lights on, or appliances plugged in. A novel gift and excellent investment - look into getting smart plugs and LED bulbs for your home. They’ll allow you to switch appliances and Christmas lights on or off more easily. LED smart bulbs can be festive too, you can often change the colour and sequence to match the mood.

Take a look at the table below*, you’ll see the energy you’re likely to use over Christmas. You’ll be happy to see that listening to Christmas tunes and watching Home Alone are both energy and cost efficient.

Being selective with how we heat our homes can make a difference to your usage. As you can see from the table, heating and cooking use a lot more energy. However, we can be clever with the appliances we use and choices we make.

• Clever cooking for Christmas dinner and beyond. Switch off your oven once the food is cooked, use residual heat to keep food warm until you serve.

• We can use the oven to reheat meals over Christmas, but it may be more cost effective to use the microwave.

• When clearing away after Christmas dinner, avoid putting warm food in the fridge, it takes a significant amount of energy for refrigerators to maintain a cool temperature. This is also important for health and safety you’ll find more about this here.

• Looking for a Christmas eve snack? Reduce the amount of time you leave your fridge door open.

• Don’t boil a full kettle for one or two cups of tea, just make sure you have enough water to cover the element.

• Use time clocks or smart controls to ensure the heat is on when needed.

• Turn your heating thermostat down by 1˚C, ideally keep it at 20 ˚C. In halls and bedrooms, thermostats should be set between 15˚ and 18˚C ideally.

• Before going to bed, avoid boosting the heat for the entire house, an alternative is to pre-heat your bed with an electric blanket. You’ll be cosier and only heat the area you’re in.

This Christmas think about the small, simple changes you can make. Check out our Smarter energy hub for more tips.

Have a safe and peaceful Christmas from all at SSE Airtricity.

Energy advice courtesy of seai.ie. For more information download our Energy Saving Tips Booklet or visit seai.ie/home-energy/energy-saving-tips/ or seai.ie/home-energy/home-upgrades/

*These figures are compiled as a guide only. Average kWh per appliance is indicative. Actual kWh usage will depend on the energy efficiency of the appliance you use and its size. Costs based on unit rate for electricity from 1 October 2022 for customers on a 10% direct debit and eBilling discount inclusive of VAT.