This advice is mainly aimed at people who don't own the home they live in, or who cannot afford to invest in improvements like insulation.

For fuller explanations, please see the recording of a talk by Vilnis Vesma given to local Party members in October, 2022

Heating

Draughts are a big cause of avoidable heat loss, so keep windows and doors closed.  Even internal doors will make it more difficult for the wind to blow air through the house or flat if you keep them closed. Use draught excluders, and check the draughtproofing.
 

Don’t heat an unused space like a boxroom or spare bedroom. Close it up, draw the curtains, and turn off any heating.
 

If you have central heating, minimise the time you run it for. If most of the rooms are unoccupied try turning the main room thermostat right down and use supplementary heating in the rooms you’re actually using. Radiant heaters are the most economical way to keep an individual room comfortable. Because they don’t warm up the air so much, any draughts cause less heat loss. They also respond quickly so you only need them on when there are people in the room.

TIP: don’t believe the hype about fancy high-tech “more efficient” electric heaters. A cheap basic convector heater or fan heater is fine as long as it has good thermostatic control.
 

TIP: if you have gas central heating with a condensing boiler, reduce the radiator flow temperature to 60⁰C. This will ensure that the boiler extracts the most useful heat out of the gas. However, it will limit the output of radiators so you may need to raise the flow temperature again in very cold weather. Don’t turn down the flow temperature of a non-condensing boiler.

CAUTION:  do not restrict ventilation to rooms which contain combustion appliances.
 

If you need to air a room, keep its door closed and open the window wide for a short period: 20 minutes should be enough.
 

Window-glass is not a good insulator. Curtains, blinds and solid shutters will help retain heat, so keep them closed as much as possible—even during the day wherever you can.
If you have a conservatory, don’t heat it.

SIEGE TACTICS: deliberately change how you use your home, congregating in a warm room rather than spreading throughout the house.

SPEND TO SAVE: a modern heating controller allows you to set different space temperatures through the day at different times for each day of the week. Most helpful if your household has a regular weekly routine.

Hot water
 

If you have a hot water storage cylinder, make sure that it is properly insulated. 
 

Electric appliances
 

Any appliance that involves heating is likely to contribute a lot to your bills, so ovens, electric showers, grills, cooking rings, tumble dryers and the like should not be left running any longer than is absolutely necessary.

SIEGE TACTICS: use a microwave cooker rather than the oven; cut down on laundry.
If you still have any filament light bulbs of any sort (including halogen) that run for extended periods, replace them with LED lamps.

Laundry drying

A tumble dryer with heat recovery (or better still, a heat-pump) is much more economical than one with an air hose to hang out of the window.
 

Drying laundry indoors will cause condensation. If you have space outside, always use it in preference. 
 

TIP: if you are forced to dry clothes indoors consider buying a dehumidifier with a ‘laundry’ setting. This removes moisture from the air and directs warm air over the whatever you are drying.
 

CAUTION: heating your home intermittently saves fuel but would increase the risk of condensation, especially if you have reduced the ventilation rate. This brings a risk of mould growth. Bathing, showering, cooking, and drying clothes indoors all release water vapour which is what causes the problem. Try to reduce moisture at source by ventilating the rooms where it is being released but if it is still an issue, try these tactics: (a) keep your home continuously heated to a moderate level, with spot heating where needed; and (b) air the whole house or flat for a short period after intense vapour-generating activities. Condensation on windows is almost inevitable but if you wipe it off you will reduce the risk of mould growing on the window-frames.
Radiant electric heaters should be protected with a fire-screen if there are children or other vulnerable people in the vicinity.