Three things you MUST do before switching on your heating after summer to save £1,000s on energy bills
AS the summer nears an end and the longer winter nights start to draw in, many will be contemplating when to turn their heating on.
Especially now that typical gas and electricity bills will be capped at £1,923 a year from October 1.
The fall in Ofgem’s price cap will mean a typical household will see their bills fall by £151 a year.
But if you aren’t proactive and don’t check your central heating system before you turn it on you could end up facing some unnecessary bills.
Here we break down three checks you need to do now to save money on your heating bills before you switch it back on.
Check your radiators
Radiators, in this weather?
You might be avoiding them while it’s warm outside but ignoring your radiators altogether could leave your boiler working double time later in the year.
Make sure to bleed your radiators regularly.
Bleeding gets rid of trapped air, and it’s recommended you carry out the radiator maintenance at least once a year.
This will keep costs down as your boiler won’t have to work harder to get the heat pumped around your house.
There may also be sludge in the radiator if you’ve never maintained it.
To fix this you need to flush the radiator.
Bleed it, take it off the wall then attach a hose pipe to the radiator valve inlet, turning on full blast to flush out all the dirt and grime.
Once water runs through clearly, the issue is solved and you can reattach the radiator to the wall.
It will take just 20 minutes of your time and you only need a bleed key, cloth and towel to place underneath while you do it.
Get your boiler serviced
Having a regular boiler service will make sure your boiler is running efficiently and safely too – and you should do this once a year.
A heating engineer can service your boiler in around an hour, but be prepared that you might be left without hot water until they are finished.
Be aware that you may have to fork out for the service charge too but this could be cheaper than having to call out an emergency visit later on this winter.
Boilers have a warranty of around 10 years, but if you have not had regular services the warranty might not stand.
Common problems with your boiler can be easily fixed though, and as a result, you could save £100s – before bills spike this winter.
Check the water temperature
You can reduce your energy bill by simply turning down your boiler’s flow temperature – and you can do it with the flick of a button.
The average household sets their combination boiler water flow temperature between 75°C and 80°C.
But if households were to drop this temperature to 60°C they could slash their gas consumption by 9% – saving households over £100 a year.
The trick works if you have a combi-boiler, which provides both hot water and heating – and it’s the most common type of model used by Brits.
Exactly how much you can save depends on the original temperature settings and what you change them to, as well as how much you use your hot water and heating.
But, it’s important to bear in mind that if you have a hot water cylinder, you should keep the dial on 60C to stop the spread of germs and bacteria.
Legionella bacteria flourishes between 20-45 degrees, so it’s important to store water at a higher temperature.
If you have a combi boiler, you don’t need to worry, legionella only breeds in standing water and combis keep it flowing.
We’ve previously explained exactly how to adjust your boiler’s flow temperature.