According to the latest press release from Boiler Guide the key to coping with winter heating bills is to optimise the efficiency of your home’s gas central heating system.
With energy costs escalating at an alarming rate, discerning homeowners looking to make their homes as energy efficient as possible may be unaware of how to cut their central heating bills and yet still maintain a cosy and comfortable home during the cold winter months. Boiler Guide is advising energy consumers how to go about optimising the efficiency of their home’s heating system, which includes installing energy efficient modern condensing boilers and optimising the correct heating controls.
Yes there’s no time like the present to take heed of Boiler Guide’s top tips to get your gas boiler ready and raring to go for the winter:
- Don’t forget that the heart of your home’s central heating system – your boiler – accounts for almost 60% of your annual energy bills. So make sure you have your boiler checked and serviced every year to keep it in tip top working condition.
- If your boiler is more than 15 years old it’s not going to be operating as efficiently as a modern high efficiency boiler. When it gets to around this age it’s a good time to consider a boiler replacement. Boilers are rated from A to G according to their efficiency, and by replacing an old energy inefficient G-rated boiler with an A-rated condensing boiler could save you up to £300 every year; that’s a large chunk of your annual heating costs.
- By optimising your heating controls you can reduce your household bills, enabling you to achieve savings of up to 17% with the correct heating controls.
- Lowering your thermostat by just 1°C (ideally it should be set between 18°C -21°C) could help you save around £65 a year. Your hot water cylinder thermostat should be set at 60°C.
- Radiators need bleeding from time to time to remove unwanted air from the system.
- Hot water tanks should be well insulated. By fitting a 3 inch thick insulating jacket around the tank you should be able to save around £40 a year.
David Holmes, founder of Boiler Guide said: “The last couple of winters have been particularly harsh and with winter fast approaching you’re going to be relying on your central heating system to help you stay warm and healthy. And that means looking at ways to get the best out of your boiler so it doesn’t cost you the earth.
“If your boiler is more than 15 years old then switching to a more modern energy efficient model is going to be good for your family and good for your pocket long term. Modern A-rated condensing boilers convert at least 90% of fuel into heat, compared to the old G-rated non-condensing models which only managed to achieve around 60%.
“And because they provide the same amount of heat but use about a third less fuel too, that’s great news because you’ll be able to cut your heating bills by up to a third whilst maintaining a warm and comfortable home.”
It’s also important to make sure your home is well insulated because it means you’ll need less energy to heat it. So draught proof doors and windows and check that your floors, walls and loft space are all properly insulated, advises Boiler Guide.
As the UK’s leading online resource of boiler and central heating installers, Boiler Guide is the go to place for homeowners who are looking for a new boiler and want to source non obligatory free quotes from Gas Safe Registered heating engineers.
