How I Used AI to Save Money on My Electricity Bill

By Richard Sargeant

Everyone’s talking about AI. You’ve probably heard the word “Copilot” mentioned more times than you’d like — Microsoft have been adding it to Windows whether you asked for it or not.

But here’s the thing: for those of us watching the pennies in retirement, that might actually be a stroke of luck.

What is Copilot, and where do I find it?

Copilot is Microsoft’s AI assistant. If you’re running Windows 10 or 11, it’s already on your computer. Look for the small Copilot icon on your taskbar at the bottom of the screen — it looks a bit like a swirly shape — or simply click the Start menu and type “Copilot.”

It’s free. No subscription. No credit card. Just click and start typing your question, the same way you’d type into Google.

The moment I realised how useful this actually is

A few months ago I was looking at my electricity bill and wondering whether I should replace my tumble dryer with one of those electric clothes airer racks you see advertised everywhere. They claim to use far less electricity. But do they really?

Rather than spending an evening hunting through websites and trying to make sense of conflicting reviews, I typed my question straight into Copilot:

“I have a standard tumble dryer that uses around 2.5 kWh per cycle. I’m considering an electric heated clothes airer that uses 250 watts. I do about 5 loads of washing a week. Which would cost less to run over a year, assuming a UK electricity rate of 24p per kWh?”

Within seconds I had a clear, worked-out answer. The tumble dryer was costing me around £156 a year in electricity. The heated airer would cost closer to £16. That’s a potential saving of £140 a year — just from switching how I dry my clothes.

Of course, that’s not the whole story. A decent heated airer costs around £60–80 to buy, so you’d need to factor that in. But Copilot can help with that too — I followed up by asking it to calculate how long before the airer paid for itself at that rate of saving. The answer was about six months. After that, it’s pure saving.

What about all that warm air?

There’s another benefit I hadn’t fully considered: what happens to all the warm moist air a dryer produces.

A vented dryer simply pipes it outside through a hose — taking all that expensive warmth with it. You’ve paid to heat the air, and then you’ve paid to throw it away. A condenser dryer is better in that sense — it keeps the moisture inside — but collects it in a tank that has to be emptied, and the humidity still has to go somewhere. Heat pump dryers are the most efficient of the lot, but they’re significantly more expensive to buy.

Either way, tumble dryers of every kind produce a large amount of warm, moist air that ends up as condensation on your windows, damp in your walls, and potentially mould over time — particularly in smaller flats or bungalows where there isn’t much space for it to dissipate.

A heated airer dries clothes slowly, the moisture disperses gradually into the room, and a briefly opened window sorts the rest. No ducting, no tank, no condensation problem. For anyone in a smaller home, that’s a meaningful practical advantage — not just a financial one.

Why this matters for seniors specifically

We’re not the target market that tech companies usually think about. The ads are aimed at younger people doing flashy creative things with AI — generating artwork, writing science fiction, building apps.

But the everyday, practical use cases? Those are often more valuable for people in our situation.

Think about what you could actually use it for:

• Understanding a letter from the council, HMRC, or your energy supplier — paste it in and ask “what does this mean and what do I need to do?”
• Comparing products or services — “which is cheaper to run, a gas boiler or a heat pump for a 2-bedroom house?”
• Drafting a complaint letter — describe what went wrong and ask for a firm but polite letter. It takes 30 seconds and the results are remarkably good.
• Checking whether you’re entitled to a benefit or discount — “I’m 71, live alone, and my weekly income is £X. What benefits might I be missing?”
• Planning a trip on a fixed budget — “what’s the cheapest way to travel from Leeds to Edinburgh with a Senior Railcard in June?”

None of these require any technical knowledge. You just type, the same way you’d write an email.

A few practical tips

Be specific. The more detail you give, the better the answer. Don’t just ask “is an electric airer worth it?” — give your actual usage, your electricity rate, your circumstances. Copilot works best when it has something real to work with.

Ask follow-up questions. If the answer isn’t quite right, or you want it explained differently, just say so. “Can you explain that more simply?” or “What if I only do 3 loads a week instead of 5?” It won’t get impatient.

Don’t rely on it for medical or legal advice. It’s a useful starting point for understanding things, but always check with a professional for anything important. It can make mistakes.

It’s not recording everything you say. A common worry. Copilot conversations aren’t stored permanently or used to target you with adverts. It’s a conversation, not a surveillance tool.

The bottom line

Microsoft pushed Copilot onto your computer because they want you to use it. For once, that might be working in your favour. It’s already there, it’s already free, and for the kind of practical money-saving questions that matter in retirement, it’s genuinely useful.

Give it a try. Ask it something real — something you actually want to know. You might be surprised.