3 ways to save energy and reduce household bills from Hartlepool primary school students

Children from a school in Hartlepool are sharing their tips on cutting energy bills for Big Energy Saving Week, which runs from 16th - 23rd January. 

Pupils from Throston Primary School created posters for local housebuilder, Barratt Developments North East, to illustrate ways people can be energy efficient in their home to be environmentally responsible and reduce household bills. 

Assistant Site Manager, Josh Mincher, joined the school from nearby David Wilson Homes’ Elwick Gardens development last week to deliver an insightful talk on saving energy in the home. Dressed in a high visibility safety jacket, Josh introduced Barratt Developments to the pupils and offered a window into his role building new energy-efficient houses at the Hartlepool development. Josh ended his visit by inviting pupils to create posters and come up with their own tips for saving energy in their homes. 

The three top energy saving tips shared by children at Throston Primary School are: 

1. Switch off lights

Save energy by turning off any lights in unused rooms and only switch on when needed - try to resist using lights during the daytime. Use LED bulbs to reduce lighting bills as well as carbon dioxide emissions, therefore lowering your carbon footprint.

2. Wash your clothes at a lower temperature 

Energy bills can be cut by using electrical appliances in the home differently, such as washing your clothes at 30° instead of 40° and filling the kettle with the correct amount of water you need.

3. Draught-proof windows and close curtains

By blocking any unwanted gaps that let in cold air and putting up/closing curtains, households can expect to see a reduction in energy consumption, and therefore lower costs. 

Barratt Developments, which includes the Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes brands, understands the importance of creating energy-efficient properties to help keep costs low for homeowners. Installing boilers that produce hot water only when needed and fitting modern double glazing filled with argon gas are just a couple of the ways the five star housebuilder is driving energy savings for its customers.   

Throston Primary School Eco Lead, Amanda Sharp said: “We were delighted to have Josh visit our school and speak to the children for Big Energy Saving Week. Learning about energy is a key part of the curriculum, and it was fantastic to have someone from a construction site bring it to life.

“Our pupils really enjoyed creating the posters for Barratt Developments North East and the activity helped to teach them about energy conservation. We’re really proud of our students for coming up with such great tips and approaching this activity with admirable enthusiasm. We’d like to extend our thanks for the generous voucher gifted to the school, which we’ll be putting towards buying books with an eco-theme as prizes for the owners of the winning posters.”

Stephen Wooldridge, Technical Director at Barratt Developments North East said: “We’re thankful to the pupils at Throston Primary School for their talent and getting involved to create some truly great posters. 

“Barratt is committed to building energy-efficient quality homes using the latest technologies to save our customers money, and it’s been excellent to partner with Throston Primary School to highlight the importance of keeping energy usage down. We hope that the gift voucher will help with improvements to the school, and we hope to work closely with them again in the future.”