7 ways to heat your home for less

Now that the clocks have gone back, our homes may start to get a little chillier earlier in the day. To stay warm and well, we all know we'll need to turn the heating on sooner or later. But the good news is, there are ways you can make your heating system more efficient, so that it is on for less time, saving you money on your bills!

Check out our top tips to help make your heating more than 20% more effective. Saving you money and reducing the amount of gas and carbon you use!

Why is it important to think about your heating?

Aside from the obvious benefits of cutting back your energy bills and making sure your home is comfortable and safe, being more energy and heating savvy has a hugely positive impact on our climate.

For example, did you know that around 22% of the UK’s carbon emissions come from our homes? And the majority of our household emissions come from heating.

According to the Energy Saving Trust, in 2017, the average household generated 2745 kg of carbon dioxide emissions from heating. To reach the 2050 net zero target, we will need to cut heating emissions to 138 kg CO2 per household: a reduction of 95%.

This might seem like a big number, but there are small steps we can all take to start reducing oour carbon emissions kg by kg.
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Plus, it saves money on your energy bills – no brainer!

How can I start saving energy in my home?

Check your boiler flow temperature to save 8%

The closer you can get your boiler flow temperature to 60 degrees, the more efficient it will be. Condensing boilers are more efficient, but you may need to go a bit higher if you have a hot water tank. Find out how to check your boiler flow temperature here.

Check your thermostat to save 9% per degree

The recommend temperature for your home during the day is between 18 and 21 degrees and yet we often see homes with their thermostat set to 22 or 23. If you feel cold, you are ill or someone in your home is elderly or has health concerns, you may need to keep to the top end of the recommended range. But for each degree you turn down your thermostat, you could save around £125 (based on average household energy use).

Balancing your heating system to save 7-10%

The radiators in your home are all linked to your boiler. But did you know if your radiators are unbalanced, i.e. all set to the same temperature, they will all heat up at different speeds and some rooms will take longer to get warm than others? You can balance your radiators so that those furthest away from the boiler get the most heat, and those nearest the least, meaning your rooms will reach the same desired temperature more quickly. Find out how you can balance the radiators in your home here.

Check what time your heating is set to come on

​You should aim for your heating to come on around 30 minutes before you get up in the morning and 30 minutes before you go to bed, so that it's warm when you are still moving around the house.

Bonus tips

• Bleed radiators - air rises to the highest point in a home, meaning your upstairs radiators can sometimes contain air bubbles instead of 100% fluid. Bleed your radiators regularly using a bleeding key to help this air escape.
• Install radiator reflectors on external walls to reflect heat from the radiators back into the room rather than letting it escape through the wall and outside. We include these in our winter warm packs, which we distribute on behalf of across Wandsworth Council, or you can check out our DIY tutorial to make your own radiator reflectors.
• Make sure your radiators aren't blocked by any furniture like sofas. This will help the heat circulate around the room more freely, rather than just heating your furniture!

Let us know how you get on and if you have any more tips!