Your bed is in the wrong place and it’s adding £200 a year to energy bills

YOUR bed could be costing you extra money based only on where it’s positioned.

There’s a chance your bed could be blocking heat from your radiator – meaning you may end up spending more than you need to on your energy bill.

It’s just one of the ways your furniture can prevent your radiator from working efficiently.

Nicholas Auckland, a heating expert from Trade Radiators, says it could be costing you a small fortune.

You could be adding an extra £50 to your bill for each radiator that is blocked by a bed.

So if you live in a four-bedroom house, this would add up to an extra £200.

Nick said: “It’s vital in the winter that you don’t block any radiators with your bed, as you’re likely to turn up your radiators higher and higher in order to heat your room.”

Of course, the exact amount it costs you can depend on a number of things, including how often your heating is on and how big your home is.

Instead of turning your heating up, you should remove any furnishings from in front of the radiators so you feel the full warmth.

But Nick said this isn’t the only way the position of your bed could be affecting your energy bills.

Placing your bed below the window in summer could mean that you don’t have to run a fan to keep you cool.

Nick added: “Placing your bed against the wall, or next to a window can save you around 34p a night – the rough cost of running an 18-inch bladed fan for around 10 hours.

“Placing your bed against the wall means you have access to a cold exterior wall, while placing it against the window means that you get a natural breeze.

“If you have your fan on every night for five weeks over summer, this will cost around £11.”

Remember there are other ways to keep bills down just by using your radiator the right way too.

For example, it’s recommended that you bleed your radiators once a year, even if they are working properly.

But always check your boiler pressure first.

This is because, if you try and bleed a radiator that doesn’t have any trapped air to release, water will spill from it quickly.

This could lower your boiler’s water pressure and upset the whole system, bringing more costs with it.

More ways to save on energy

Putting the heating on is one of the biggest drains on your energy bill anyway, but sometimes you’re inadvertently doing things that can increase your bills.

For example, there’s one fact in particular to know if you want to stop spending unnecessary money – don’t dry your clothes on the radiator.

If you do, it keeps the radiator from working properly and you might need to leave the heating on for longer to feel its effect.

Potentially, up to £55 could go down the drain every year as a result.

Of course, it could be more or less depending on the size of your home, your provider and how much energy you normally use.

Clothes dryers don’t need to cost the earth either – there’s one from Dunelm that will set you back just £12.

Also, letting heat escape through your chimney could throw away up to £300 a year.

That’s if you don’t have something to block the opening whenever you turn on the heating.

A damper is a seal for your chimney to ensure cold air stays out and warmth from indoors can’t escape.

You can install one by yourself if you’re used to carrying out small DIY jobs – you shouldn’t need any tools to help.

It should fit right up into the flue system which sits above the smoke chamber.

Hopefully it’ll slide in comfortably, but there might be a few screws to tighten if your damper comes with them.

But that’s the most you’ll need to do.

We’ve seen dampers from the likes of Amazon for £22, but don’t forget about added delivery costs.

However bear in mind it’ll cost an average of £250 to have someone come in and fit it for you, which could be quite pricey.

Don’t forget to do regular annual boiler service checks either – they could actually save you up to £550 a year.

For more energy-saving tips, make sure to read through our handy guide.

Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk