Heating your Home

Energy Saving Trust estimates the average UK household can save £55 on their energy bill by setting their thermostat 1’C lower. For the foreseeable future, then, wearing additional layers indoors might be advisable.

Consider installing a Smart thermostat so that you can control and schedule your heating system carefully and remotely. So, if you are delayed at work and know you won’t be home for a few more hours, you can easily tweak the system so that the heating doesn’t ‘click on’ until 45 mins before your arrival. You can schedule your heating to fit around the household’s needs and ensure money isn’t being wasted on heating when there is no one there to benefit.

For larger homes, Smart thermostats can work with your heating system to control the temperature of specific areas. Your house can be broken up into ‘zones’, and you can opt to only heat only those areas that people are using. So, it wouldn’t cost you to heat unused spare bedrooms for example, or a home office at the weekends.

Physical measures to retain the heat in your home can result in substantial savings. For example, a simple thermal jacket fitted around a hot water cylinder can save £20 per year on heating costs according to the Energy Saving Trust, and can be bought for as little as £15. 

Draught-proofing

Draughts can be found where there is an unwanted gap in the construction of your house. Common sources include under door frames and windows, but fireplaces, old air vents or gaps between skirting boards and floors are also culprits.

Windows and Doors

To exclude draughts around window frames, consider applying draught-excluding tape. Self-adhesive tape costs very little (between £0.80/m and £1.20/m), but these are not a permanent solution.

For a long-term fix that can also be used on door frames, try brush seals: simple metal or plastic strips with brushes attached that can be fixed to the frame. Brush seals usually range from £5.48/m to £8.99/m, with those designed for interior and exterior doors differing slightly in specification. Similarly, loft hatches can be draught-proofed using brush seals.

Energy Saving Trust also recommends buying keyhole and letterbox covers to comfortably fit the size of these openings on your front door.

Simple home-furnishings like draught excluders can be used to both style your home and exclude draughts under internal doors.

Skirting boards and walls

Consider using silicone-based fillers in any gaps around skirting boards. This will allow for slight movement in the floorboards during everyday use, while excluding unwanted draughts.

Some homes have vents that are no longer needed. For example, vents which allow air in from outside that were initially required for a long-gone gas fireplace. Air-vent covers generally cost between £10-25 and are simple to install. If you are covering a vent such as this, it is important that the old gas fire has been removed and the gas supply capped by a registered Gas Safe Engineer.

Of course, ventilation is important in keeping your home dry and safe. Take care not to block air bricks or necessary vents in your property, and minimise draught proofing in rooms that generate a lot of moisture (kitchens, bathrooms, utility rooms).

Fireplaces

Fireplaces can let cold air flow into the house from the chimney and hot air out. There are many produces available to draught-proof your fireplace. Buying a chimney balloon will set you back as little as £12, with sizes available to fit every fireplace. These are relatively easy to deflate if you wish to use the fire. However, they are not a fail-safe measure for sealing: as birds have been known to still find their way past!

Alternatively, a ‘fireplace plug’ is rectangular pillow that is pushed securely against the damper with a pole or long handle; some are inflatable, some are made of wool, and they range in cost between £20-£30. 

Online retailers also sell ‘fireplace blocker blankets’ for around £50 which can be attached to the outside of a fire screen using magnets. They are made of carbon fibre and are easy to remove and put back in place when needed.

If your fireplace is totally unused, you can achieve a more permanent seal with a foam insulation plug. Either ordering one that has been cut to size, either to order or by cutting one yourself. It can then be placed at the bottom of your chimney and secured it with caulk.

LED Bulbs

Switching to LED bulbs is a simple measure that can save you substantial amounts in the long run. Energy Saving Trust claims householders can save between £2-£3 per year for every bulb switched from halogen to LED. Which? estimates that halogen bulbs in the average home cost £378 per year, compared to £146 for LED bulbs.

Radiators

Bleeding your radiators once a year will ensure there is no air inside them blocking warm water circulating. This simple household maintenance task keeps your heating system is running as efficiently as possible and so helps keep energy spending down. 

Moving large furniture such as sofas, beds or chests of drawers away from radiators will also ensure rooms are being heated efficiently. Although furniture placement can be tricky in smaller rooms, perhaps it is time to reconfigure things as best you can to save money on your heating bill. 

Using Appliances

Energy Savings Trust estimates that the average household wastes £40 per year powering appliances left on standby. Where possible, turn off appliances at the plug. ‘Standby Savers’ are products available that turn all devices and appliances off standby with one switch or button, or work on a timer. The delayed start or end time function of many washing machines, tumble driers and dishwashers may be a no-go if you want to save money per cycle and avoid keeping the appliance on standby for prolonged periods whilst it waits to start.

The power required for standby functions in modern appliances is regulated, and power usage limits vary depending on the type of appliance, whether its standby mode features a display (for example, time) and whether it is connected to your home network. For example:

• non-networked dishwashers with no display on standby mode cannot exceed 0.5W
• non-networked washing machines must not have power usage above 1.0W if information is still displayed
• networked washing machines are limited to 2.0W in standby mode.

As many households use an array of networked and non-networked devices, it is advisable to investigate your standby power usage and consider how you can reduce this.

Due to stricter regulation and labelling of appliances’ energy consumption both in terms of main functions and standby modes in recent years, a very old appliance will be less energy efficient than its modern counterparts. In such cases, it might be worth replacing dated appliances with newer models.

When buying a new appliance, look carefully at its energy label. Since March 2021, most household appliances use an A-G energy rating system that compares its performance to those of a similar size. Appliances with an A rating will be more energy efficient than those rated G.

Most dishwashers and washing machines will have an “Eco” cycle; running this cycle will be more energy-efficient than others. Do not over-use your appliances: avoid putting on half-loads of clothes or dishes- wait until the machine is full to run the appliance.

Insulation

Homes built before 1920 are likely to have solid exterior walls. Energy Saving Trust estimates the cost of installing insulation on solid exterior walls of a semi-detached, three-bedroom UK house to be £10,000, and interior walls to be £8200. This would result in a yearly saving of approximately £255 in heating costs.

For homes with cavity exterior walls, Energy Saving Trust estimate the cost of cavity-wall insulation as approximately £675 for an average semi-detached house, with associated yearly savings of £185. Regardless of house-type, Energy Saving Trust say you should make back the cost of cavity-wall insulation within five years.