Here at C.S Heating & Plumbing we want to help our customers across Kent as much as we can and every home can reduce their utility bills through the smallest of changes.
Here are just some of our recommendations to help reduce your energy bills.
So, where do you begin in reducing your energy bills?
Every year we get a renewal letter from our insurance provider telling us that our vehicle insurance for the next year will be X amount and generally if we don’t like it, we shop around and get the best deal we can. Well, why not do that with your utility bills. Changing your utility provider could save you hundreds off your bill and in this current climate that could be a large chunk. Speak to your neighbours, friends and family to see who they are using. It may be that they are unable to help you get a better price but, you may be helping them get a cheaper price. Search around for not only prices but benefits attached to the providers. It sometimes may be more beneficial to pay a slightly inflated price for access to benefits that the provider may be offering. Don’t just think about the initial bill as changing your provider could save you money elsewhere rather than your utility bill.
Let’s talk about making your home work for you!
Your heating system is one of those setups in your home that whilst all the time it is working, you don’t think about it. So, how can you make your system save you money.
There are many ways to reduce your gas bill through means that require no money to be spent, these of which are as follows.
Turning down your thermostat by 1 Degree. The average range for heating systems in the UK is between 18 and 22 degrees. The temperature you set in your own home is purely preferential to you and your household. However, if you turned your thermostat down by 1 degree you could be saving up to £120 per year on your energy bills. The difference in the reduction most people would not notice.
Keeping your temperature constant. One of the biggest mistakes that people make during the winter months is, when the temperature drops everyone panics and turns up the heating to 3-4 degrees above their normal setting thinking that the property will heat up quicker having the temperature higher. This is however not the case. The only thing that will happen will be that your boiler will stay on for longer than is required and will not turn off until the higher setting has been reached. Your boiler doesn’t suddenly become enabled to produce more heat, it purely uses more gas to get to the higher temperature that you have set. The most economical way to run your heating is to have the heating set to constant and control your heating by your thermostat and radiators. The hardest part about keeping your home at a stable temperature is heating the fabric of the building. To think of this another way, let’s talk about driving a car along a motorway. You wouldn’t want to speed your car up to 70 miles an hour and then slow down to 60 and then increase back up to 70 as this would not be economical for your fuel consumption. Well, your heating system is the same. Keeping your home at a regulated temperature means that the fabric of the building is stable and therefore your boiler will not need to work as hard to reach its desired temperature.
Don’t heat an empty home. How many times have you gone out of the house shopping, or to the cinema and left your heating on because you didn’t want to come home to a cold house? Reducing the thermostat by 3-4 degrees whenever you leave the house, will save you wasted energy that is being used by your boiler to heat an empty property. Would you leave the house and leave all your lights on in the property? You may leave on one or two lights for security purposes so why not reduce your thermostat a little and save money. In the time you will have been out your property will have lost a small amount of heat that will be easily reinstated when you return and increase the temperature.
Don’t heat an empty room. Do you have a room that is rarely used? Do you have a room that is only used during the day? Thinking about when rooms are used and how long they are used for can play a big part in reducing your energy bills. Let’s say you have a room in your home that is used once a month when your family comes to stay. Do you heat that room for the entire month or reduce the setting on the rad or even turn the rad off when it’s not being used? This is the same as heating your home when you’re not there. Reducing the setting of the rad in the room or turning the rad off for 90% of the time and then using the rad when the room is required will mean your boiler is not heating a radiator that is not required and it will in turn be on for a shorter period, thus reducing your gas consumption.
Keep windows and doors closed. It’s always nice to have windows and doors open to help air circulate however, this can be a waste and one of the biggest contributors to heat loss. Keeping your windows and doors closed will help retain the heat in your home or room and reduce heat loss and help your thermostat reach its desired temperature quicker.