Festive frugality the top of consumers’ Christmas list this season

Dec. 21, 2011 - PRLog -- With energy prices soaring and a cold winter just around the corner, many people are preoccupied with finding ways to save energy and money this Christmas.

Verdo Renewables, the country’s leading provider of wooden briquettes, has pulled together these tips about how to be energy efficient this winter. By following this advice, hopefully a few people will have a little more cash left in their pockets when the cold reality of January bites.  

Alistair McGlynn, UK sales manager for Verdo Renewables comments: “It’s been incredibly warm this winter so far, but with the mercury dropping now is a good time to start thinking about getting your winter fuel sorted.  There’s good savings to be made by choosing a briquette rather than seasoned logs - so with that in mind, we’ve pulled together a few money & energy saving tips. Not only do we hope our customers save cash, but also by reducing energy usage, do a small bit for our environment.”

1. Light bulb change – LED lights use 90% less than regular Christmas lights so changing over can result in significant savings and can be purchased for a minimal cost
2. Timed lighting - not only a fantastic deterrent for criminals, energy companies are more intelligent than ever, providing timers and how-to guides on ‘switching off’ your home and Christmas decorations
3. Verdo Briquettes burn for twice as long as standard logs and £289 for a pallet of briquettes will last you for about as long as £800 of seasoned logs! Plus they are FSC accredited so you can purchase Verdo confident that you are not contributing towards deforestation
4. Eat out – with so many value Christmas meals on offer from quality establishments, it can be more economic to save on bills and eat out on Christmas Day - plus mum gets to relax and there’s no washing up to deal with!
5. Insulate – placing foil behind radiators instantly saves a significant amount of energy, resulting in lower central heating bills. Considering the recent increase in gas and electricity bills, this is advice worth following
6. Recycle for cash - there’s a wealth of websites offering to pay for unwanted items which might be cluttering your home, including books, clothes, CDs and mobile phones - this can provide you some much needed cash for Christmas
7. Buy gifts that don’t require electricity or batteries  - according to energyquest.ca.gov, 40% of all batteries are purchased during the festive period. Buying energy free gifts will skip the cost entirely and avoid those subsequent purchases, plus it means less potentially harmful batteries are sent to land fill in the long run
8. Bake several dishes at once  - the majority of the energy used in baking goes into heating the oven initially, so make the most of a hot oven and cook numerous dishes in one session. Maybe you can even make extra cakes and sell them or just give them away to your neighbours and friends? No doubt you’ll be very popular and who knows what they might cook up for you in return!
9. Turn your thermostat down - by reducing it by just one degree, you can save £55 a year and 230kg of carbon - good news for you and good news for the environment
10. Close your fire place damper – traditional fireplaces actually lose energy when not in use as the flue sucks the warmth out of your house.  Close the damper when you go to work or visit friends during the festive period – just ensure there aren’t any smouldering embers lingering!

To learn more about Verdo Briquettes visit our video channel where loyal customers explain why they love our briquettes: www.verdorenewables.co.uk/Verdo-Tv.aspxor You can also place an order via our website - a pallet costs £289 and will last most families an entire winter - and is the equivalent of approx. £800 of seasoned logs.
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Please contact Jane Alcock or Hollie Clark on 0161 839 1986 or email media@smokinggunpr.co.uk for further details, samples or images.

Notes to editor:

Verdo Renewables is the largest manufacturer of wood briquettes in Europe. Two factories in the UK are based at Andover and near Aberdeen. Wooden briquettes  have historically been available through hardware stores, garden centres, fuel suppliers, log burner and stove retailers
The briquettes are packed in easily manageable packs, each containing six briquettes and weighing approximately 10Kg
Briquettes are supplied on pallets; each pallet contains 96 packs - 576 briquettes in total, and weighs approximately one tonne
For orders of one tonne or more, Verdo Renewables will supply briquettes directly to the customer