Cut your costs for Energy Savers Week

This week is Energy Savers Week (January 20-26^th) and we are marking the occasion with some top tips on how you can save yourself energy and money.

The below suggestions have come from Energy Saving Trust together with Citizens Advice.

1. Bleed your radiators – cold spots caused by trapped air could mean your radiators aren’t giving out as much heat as they should. You can bleed your radiators yourself: 

• Some radiators have a valve that can be bled using a flathead screwdriver. 
• If the valve has a square spindle with no flathead cutout, you’ll need a radiator bleeding key. You can get a radiator key from most DIY shops or online. 
• Please ensure the heating’s off and has had time to cool down before bleeding. 
• You may need to repressurise the system after doing this. You can check your boiler’s user manual for how to do this or check with a heating engineer. 

Thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) – the numbers normally correspond to a specific room temperature (eg on a scale of 0-5, 5 is typically 30°C). So, turning them up to the maximum or minimum could still mean you’re over or underheating that room in your property. On a 0-5 scale, 4 is usually okay for rooms you need to keep warm and 2 or 3 is okay for rooms that don’t need to be as warm. 

• The boiler flow temperature is the temperature of the water your boiler sends to your radiators and hot water cylinder (if you have one). 
• Turning your boiler’s flow temperature down can reduce your heating bill by as much as 9%, according to some claims. 
• This is set on the boiler itself – you can check your user manual to find out how to change this. If you’re unsure, you can ask a heating engineer to reduce the flow temperature for you. 
• If you have a combi boiler, you could turn it down to 60°C in cold weather. In mild weather you might be able to turn it down as low as 50°C. 
• If you have a boiler with a hot water cylinder, you can turn it down to 65°C. Don’t set it any lower otherwise the boiler won’t be able to heat your water to a safe temperature. 
• After lowering the flow temperature, your boiler will take longer to heat your home and your hot water (if you have a cylinder). You should set your boiler to come on earlier to give it more time to work.  
• Turning down your boiler thermostat may not be suitable for all homes, especially if your home is already underheated, or certain heating system types.
• If your home feels cold or struggles to reach a comfortable temperature, consider other energy-saving measures instead.

Find out more about your boiler flow temperature with here.

Setting a higher temperature on your room thermostat doesn’t make your home warm up any faster but it could waste energy. Instead, set your heating to come on earlier so it has longer to work. This uses less energy than turning up the thermostat.

A comfortable temperature is typically 18-21°C.

Read more on when should you put your heating on. 

• The last thing you want is to switch your heating on during a cold snap only to find it’s broken down. You should also think about getting a service booked in with a Gas Safe engineer if you haven’t already had a service this year. This will also ensure it’s working safely and efficiently.
• Check if an annual service might be needed to keep your boiler’s warranty valid.  

Head to our blog for more on the most economical ways to use your heating. 

Portable electric heaters are best for short-term use, not as a replacement for your whole heating system. If you want to heat a single room, it’s usually cheaper to use your central heating and adjust the thermostat and TRVs.