As winter approaches and temperatures dip, the rising cost of energy is a top concern for many households across the country.
To help consumers worried about the impact of heating bills, Rob Nezard, Managing Director of UKRadiators.com, shares his expert insights on how to save money this winter.
He said: “The golden rule is to make sure your radiators and heating system are regularly maintained, checked and repaired if necessary. If something is leaking or working inefficiently, it’s almost certainly going to be wasting money and increasing energy bills.”
With years of industry experience, Rob offers practical tips and advice to ensure that consumers can stay warm without breaking the bank.
1. Bleed Your Radiators
This is a must every winter. Throughout the summer, air builds up in the system and if you don’t let it out the radiators aren’t going to perform well. Rooms will never get to temperature and as a result the thermostat isn’t going to switch the boiler off. It’s just going to run and run and send your bills sky high.
2. Rethink furniture placement
Unless you want to spend money heating the back of your sofa, don’t put it in front of your radiator. Sofas and other bulky items absorb heat. An unobstructed radiator will get the room to temperature more quickly, meaning the boiler runs for no longer than it needs to.
3. Bid farewell to radiator covers
They may look nice, but radiator covers absorb heat, which means the boiler runs for longer than it needs to.
4. Wet clothes = no no
Radiators are made to heat your room so if they’re being used to dry clothes, they’re going to have to work harder than they need, resulting in higher energy bills.
5. Cavity wall insulation
Around a third of the heat in an uninsulated home escapes through the walls. Cavity wall insulation dramatically reduces that and can bring huge savings of around £395 per year. It can be a big outlay to have it installed, but you should recoup your spend in under three years.
6. Switch heating off when you’re out
It’s an urban myth that keeping heating on low all day is cheaper than using it as and when it’s required. It costs less to set your heating to come on when you need it and just in the rooms that you are using.
7. A little saves a lot
It might sound too good to be true but turning your thermostat down by one degree can save around £145-a-year.
8. Plug the draughts
Obvious though it sounds, if cold air is getting into your house it will cost more to keep it warm. Professional draught-proofing can save you up to £125 a year.*
9. Check your chimney
Is your chimney draught proofed? If not, you’re literally sending about £90-a-year up there. A chimney draught excluder costs about £20, so get it sorted.
If you don’t use the fireplaces, consider sealing it up.
10. Install thermostatic radiator valves
Want to have real control of your heating? Thermostatic radiator valves will heat the rooms you are using and will switch off as soon as it reaches the right temperature. These savings are estimated at between £55 and £180 per year for a typical three-bedroom semi-detached property.
11. Insulate exposed water pipes
Hot water travels from your boiler to your radiators in pipes. Water in exposed pipes will cool down en-route, meaning the boiler runs for longer. Insulating them with clip-on foam will cost pennies and save pounds.
12. Upgrade your hot water cylinder insulation
If you have a hot water cylinder in your house – somewhere which stores hot water – you can upgrade the standard 25mm insulation to 80mm using a cylinder jacket and save around £70 per year. The jackets can cost as little as £16.
For more information visit UKRadiators.com
NOTE TO EDITORS – all cost savings outlined below are from Energy Saving Trust and are based on a typical semi-detached home in the UK.
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