As we all know running the home central heating during the winter months can be expensive, but did you know there are some simple things you can do that can help bring down those costs.
Your central heating boiler is an essential part of your home, it supplies you with unlimited hot water when you need it, and it keeps you warm in the colder months.
First, make sure that you have your boiler serviced each year, preferably before the winter kicks in. Your central heating boiler is just like a car engine, if left unserviced, over time things will start to go wrong, the same goes for the central heating boiler.
If your central heating boiler is not serviced and something is starting to go wrong your energy bills will start to rise, your boiler may need to work harder to reach that desired temperature thus higher bills, if the boiler is maintained and checked over, anything that needs adjusting or replacing can be carried out.
Now, lets look at the boiler itself. If your central heating boiler is over 11 years old you may want to consider updating it for a newer high efficiency condensing model. With the older boilers did you know that between 35-40% of your energy is lost through the flue or chimney of your boiler, that’s a big loss to your pocket.
Today’s high efficiency boilers run at around 90% efficiency which is a big saving on those ever increasing energy bills, OK I know the initial cost of updating the boiler will be high, but it will save you in the long term.
Now lets look at some simple cheap ways to cut those central heating energy bills.
The central heating boiler should be controlled by a time clock or programmer along with a central room thermostat. If you central heating system does not have either of these controls then you are throwing money down the drain.
Best practice is to have these items fitted. The time clock or programmer will let you set your preferred on and off times for both the hot water and the central heating. The room thermostat will let you set your desired temperature, once the temperature is reached then the boiler will turn itself off. Some of today’s smart thermostats actually work by getting information about the outside temperature of where you live and adjusting the boiler accordingly thus saving you money.
The same goes for the hot water temperature, if your hot water is stored in a tank then make sure it has a thermostat fitted.
Another way to make costs a little lower is to have thermostatic control valves fitted to all your radiators, this way you can control the temperature of each room independently, and the rooms you use least can be kept at a lower temperature or even switched off.
When it comes to radiators you can buy reflective foil from your local DIY store that you fit behind the radiator, you will be surprised at how effective the foil actually is.
Another simple way to save money is to make sure the radiator itself has nothing around it, keep it clear so the heat can penetrate the room, don’t put cloths that you want to dry on the radiator put them on a cloths horse close by they will still dry. When you put cloths on the radiator all the heat is lost into the cloths and the room takes longer to heat up.
Pipe insulation is another way of cutting down those energy bills. Any pipe work that you can visibly see should be insulated. By fitting insulation to the pipes you are reducing the heat loss from that pipe, you can buy pipe insulation from the local DIY store.
These are just a few of the ways you can save on those central heating bills, and remember when you have the central heating boiler serviced, only use a registered gas safe company or engineer.