11 November 2019
Set a Timer
There is a big debate about whether or not you should set your heating to come on at certain times throughout the day, or whether you should turn it on as and when you need it. When you are turning your heating on whenever you feel you need to, you can fall into a bad habit of having it on a lot more than is actually needed. However, if you set your timer to come on a key points during the day, you can keep your home heated and save yourself money on your energy bills. We advise setting your heating to come on just before the time you get up in the morning, so that it has had time to heat before you”re up and you will probably only need it on for around an hour in the morning, and then the same for just before you get in from work each day so that you”re arriving to a nice warm home. Once the evenings start to get much colder, you can then adjust this so that your heating can also come back on later in the evenings.
Setting the Right Temperature
A lot of people can fall into the trap of setting the wrong temperature on their thermostat, which can cause you to overheat your home and waste a lot of energy. Correctly setting your thermostat for your central heating can help you to keep a comfortable temperature in your home throughout the colder months. The official Cold Weather Plan for England suggests setting your thermostat to a minimum of 18°C. You should also check each of the radiator valves to ensure these are set to a heat setting that is comfortable for each room, but not overheating.
*To save energy, we would recommend only heating the rooms that you use on a regular basis, if this is possible. So, if you have spare bedrooms that aren”t used, turn off the radiators in those rooms and only heat them when required.
Keep a Consistent Temperature
As said above, it”s important to set a temperature in your home that is comfortable and doesn”t overheat the rooms. However, we know how tempting it can be, when you get in from a cold day outdoors, to turn the temperature right up to try and heat a room as quickly as possible. Doing this won”t actually help to heat your home any quicker, you”re just setting your heating to a higher temperature, which will just overheat, waste energy, and probably become too hot and uncomfortable. Keeping your thermostat at a consistent, comfortable temperature will ensure your home stays cosy for when you”ve been out on a chilly winter's day.
Installing a Smart Thermostat
Whilst there”s nothing wrong with having a traditional thermostat, and some people prefer to keep it this way, installing a smart thermostat (such as Nest) can help you to reduce how much energy you”re using, and save money on your bills. Smart thermostats have a range of features to help you become more energy-efficient including personalised heat scheduling, they can provide you with energy usage data and energy reports, automatic heating, and wifi capability so that it can be linked to, and controlled from your smartphone or tablet wherever you are in the world. This means that when you”ve been out on a freezing cold winter day, you can log in to your thermostat from your phone and adjust the settings, so that you can arrive back at a nice warm, cosy home and aren”t tempted to turn everything on full temperature.
Bleed Your Radiators
Each year you should make sure that all of the radiators in your home have been bled, to ensure they are all prepared and are able to heat your home properly, before the winter months. It is important to do this in case any air has gotten into the radiator. If this has happened, this causes air bubbles, which will prevent the air from circulating around the radiator properly and, therefore, won”t heat your home properly. If your radiators haven”t been bled, and aren”t completely heating up, then you are more likely to leave your heating on for longer as you won”t be feeling the full benefit of your central heating.
