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Published: 26/01/2015

Six Ways to Reduce Your Energy Bills

Looking to save money on your heating bills? We’ve put five useful options together for you to consider when looking for long term savings. If you’re fed up of rearranging all of your furniture just so you’re closer to radiators; check out the options below.

1 –  Thermal curtains

If you really want to start saving on your heating bills, it might very well be worth investing in some thermal curtains. With this you are limited in terms of choice of colours and fabrics, but they will certainly do a fantastic job of keeping the heat into your home and preventing any draughts. They’re also generally great for protecting your soft furnishings from fading.

Unless your home is new, it’s quite likely you’ll be losing some heat through draughts around doors and windows, gaps around the floor, or through the chimney. Therefore, it might be a good idea to buy some draught proofing products for those areas. Fitting draught excluders to windows and doors, plus blocking up any gaps between your floorboards and skirting boards can be a DIY job. It may cost you around £200 but you can save around £25 to £35 a year on your heating bills.

2 – Update your boiler

Modern boilers are more efficient in burning their fuel. Another good thing about them is that they are all condensing boilers. You certainly get more for your money with a modern boiler than an older one because they are more energy efficient, so for a long term saving it might be worth looking at upgrading.

3 – New heating controls

When was the last time you had a look at updating your heating controls? If you want to save some money, it’s time take more control over how heat is distributed in your home.

For example, you might want to set it so that heating and hot water only come on when you need them. You could also make sure you’re only heating areas of the house you need.

Another option you should consider, is having a thermostat, programmer and set of thermostatic radiator valves installed. With these you can decide how warm you want each area of your home to be, saving yourself a considerable amount of money on heating bills.

If you know you won’t be spending much time in certain rooms, don’t heat them at all, or set the radiators thermostats to low. By turning down your room thermostat by a mere one degree, you can save between £70 and £75.

4 – Break habits

If you’re serious about preventing heat loss and saving some money, then it might be a good idea to start breaking some bad habits. Do you or the people you live with often leave doors and windows open? Often leave radiators on and forget to turn them down in rooms that are aren’t used often? It’s time to start taking more notice of these things, make an effort to wear an extra layer. Make your jumper the first resort to cold weather rather than central heating.

5 – Insulation

It is a good idea to add insulation to your home. An example might be your loft. According to the Energy Saving Trust, 270mm of insulation is recommended for a loft. Even if you already have loft insulation, it may not be at the maximum thickness, so you could add to it.

You could be saving up to £150 a year with 270mm of loft insulation. Increasing your existing loft insulation from 100mm to 270mm can save around £15 a year. Once you’ve made sure of this, it might be worth insulating your windows, doors and floors.

6 – Heat pumps

Finally, an option you should not rule out is investing in a heat pump. They are very efficient at producing heat, using little electricity. They can completely replace your boiler or electric heaters, providing both space heating and hot water. Seeing as though they’re using renewable energy, having one installed might make you eligible for grants such as the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), which is a government run scheme. Take a look at our guide to heat pumps for more information.