After your mortgage payments, heating bills are up there as one of the highest monthly expenses we face.
The average adult will spend £77,000 on utility bills over the course of a lifetime, with the average spend on gas being £434.08 per year (before the energy rise)
Some people will spend a lot more than that on gas every year. In this blog, we’re going to look at 5 ways you can shave a bit off that monthly spend and bring that heating bill down.
1. Install an energy-efficient boiler
Granted, you may think, ‘How is this saving me money? Boilers are expensive!’ – and you’re right, kind of.
WarmZilla offers finance on all of our boilers, meaning you can spread the monthly payment to just £11.34 per month. If you currently have an older boiler, then upgrading to a new A-rated energy-efficient boiler can save you up to £305 per year on your utility bills, according to the Energy Saving Trust. It’s also better for the environment and will save on the repair costs of keeping an older boiler going. You can read our useful article on whether it’s best to repair or replace your old boiler.
2. Minimise Draught
Draughty areas in your home can be responsible for a significant heat loss, meaning you must spend more on heating to keep your house warm. Windows and doors are the main areas where you lose heat. Fitting draught excluders are a cost-effective way of reducing draughts and lowering your energy bills. Thermal leak detectors are useful for identifying the areas where your house is losing heat, and with so many on the market, they don’t have to break the bank either.
Eliminating draughts will allow you to drop your thermostat down a degree or two. Decreasing the temperature of your thermostat by one degree is believed to be able to save you £80 a year!
A lot of heat is also lost through windows. Even with double-glazed windows, this can occur. Try closing the curtains/blinds earlier or purchase thicker curtains. It can make a surprisingly big difference.
3. Close Doors to Rooms
Some rooms are colder than others in your home, depending on where they’re located, how much light they get, how efficient the heating is in that room. If one or more rooms are particularly colder, try closing the door and keep that heat in. This is a simple way of keeping those chilly rooms nice and warm.
4. Have Thermostatic Radiator Valves Installed
Thermostatic Radiator Valves, or “TRVs” as they’re known in the business, are valves installed on radiators that allow you to set the temperature for each room. You can save money by setting the temperature lower in rooms you don’t use as often. By giving you more control of your heating, you can lessen the work your boiler has to do to heat your home – again, saving you money on your gas bill. Imagine how much gas you could save if you could regulate the temperature on every radiator in the house to exactly what is required.
There is, however, a cost to buying and having these TRVs installed, but that initial outlay will certainly be recouped. On average, to have a TRV installed will cost you between £50 – £80, but that price will drop significantly if you are replacing multiple TRVs at the same time as the plumber will only need to drain the system down once. You can pick up TRVs for around £15, so if you fancy having a go at fitting them yourself, it doesn’t have to cost too much. Draining a system down isn’t too difficult but if you’re unsure, always call in an expert.
5. Get a Smart Thermostat
A smart thermostat can save you money by learning your heating habits and adjusting the temperature of your rooms to suit your usage (they are called Smart thermostats). Used in conjunction with TRV’s, they can make sure that there is no wasted spending on your heating bill.
There is an initial outlay on a smart thermostat, but as with TRVs, you will soon recoup the initial outlay on reduced heating bills as well as enjoying your ideal temperature in each room.
Tado says that its smart thermostat “will pay for itself within a year” by reducing your heating bills by up to 31%. Netatmo claims that its smart thermostat will reduce the energy you use by 37%.*
Above are just 2 of the thermostat brands out there now, and most, if not all, can provide you with weekly reports of your heating consumption! And for all the tech-savvy folk out there, you can control your smart thermostat on your smartphone!
Your smart thermostat is connected to your home Wi-Fi, allowing you to control your heating from a phone app, so you can pre-heat your home ready for your arrival or when you return home from holiday.
We hope you have found these five tips for saving money on your heating bill useful and that they help you to cut down on your gas bill. If you have any more ideas for saving money, please contact us. We’re always happy to help.
7 Comments
I’ve recently been looking at reducing my bills and so have been sarching pages to find tips and tricks. I came across your site and really enjoyed the content. I learnt something. I wanted to leave you a comment and say thanks and to keep up the work.
No problem, always happy to help 🙂
When installing a new energy-efficient boiler, make sure you know what you’re doing or hire a professional plumber. While electric boilers do not require the assistance of a gas-safe engineer, knowledge of plumbing is more than recommended to perform this installation. As for gas boilers, you just cannot install them DIY.
Additionally, remember to keep your attic well-insulated. A quarter of all heat lost in an uninsulated home is through the roof. And that could be costing you a lot of money!
Laying down mineral wool or fiberglass insulation in roof spaces is the best way to insulate your attic. And once you’ve done it one time, you don’t need to do it again.
I love the idea of installing a smart thermostat. But for better results, I want to suggest you set your thermostat a tad higher in summer and a bit lower in winter.
So, in winter, set your thermostat to 68°F when you wake up, 60°F when you leave, 68°F in the evenings, and 60°F when you sleep. You won’t feel a big change in temperature, but you’ll see a significant reduction in energy usage.
And what do you think about solar panel installation?
Yes, solar panel installation is an investment upfront, but you can potentially save up to £480 per year on your utility bills, which will turn into significant savings in the long run. Plus, government solar incentives have quite favorable terms for 2023.
Great and valuable tips, thank you!
I love this article and the tips suggested are very good and helpful.
Another handy tip is to install ceiling fans if you haven’t yet and change their rotation to clockwise in winter. This will distribute warm air and direct it downward, lightening the load on your heating system. It’s a relatively inexpensive solution that will help you save money on heating bills.