10 Ways to Cut your Heating Costs
Keep warm this winter and reduce your heating costs by making your house as efficient as possible.
- Your fireplace may look good and keep the room warm when lit, but when the fire is out close the damper or if it’s not in use buy a chimney balloon to stop the draughts from the chimney.
- With houses losing up to a third of their heat through the roof, loft insulation is a must, at least 300mm and don’t forget the loft hatch as well.( Grants are available to some people.)
- Boilers need to be serviced regularly to make sure they keep their efficiency or if your boiler is old consider changing it to a condensing boiler.(there are boiler scrappage schemes available.)
- Adjusting the thermostat down by even 1 degree can make a good saving on heating bills
- Draughts with windows and doors can rob a house of its heat, but they can be quick and cheap to fix.
- Shop around for your oil or gas, there are different suppliers so make sure you are getting the best value.
- Wrap the hot water tank, a standard jacket can reduce heat loss by 75%.
- Maximise your radiator efficiency by making sure they are bled of air. Foil behind a radiator can help reflect heat into a room and remember to turn down the thermostat in unused rooms.
- Windows are a major source of heat loss, so if you can’t stretch to the latest gas filled double glazing, there are thermal lined blinds and curtains that help with heat loss.
- Insulate wall cavities. Around 33% of the heat lost in an uninsulated house is through the walls. You could save around £120 on energy bills each year by insulating your wall cavities. It also creates an even temperature in your home.
A Thermal Imaging Survey of your property shows exactly where heat and energy are being lost and can also identify missing insulation and building defects in the property structure that aren’t visible to the human eye.
