Winter tips for your home
We all want our homes to be warm and snug this winter - while keeping heating bills to the minimum. The solution? Make a few little changes so no energy goes to waste.
Heating your home is a necessary part of the British winter, but it can be expensive. Don't resign yourself to chilly rooms and big bills - just make sure you're heating efficiently.
A sustained period of iciness and wintry conditions could mean that you are more likely to experience problems with your water pipes than in recent years. Frozen and burst pipes are inconvenient, and leaks are often expensive to repair. Prepare yourself this winter and avoid the unnecessary waste of water and damage to your home that burst pipes can bring.
Here are our tips for a warmer, greener winter...
Fine-tune your central heating
Heating controls can keep your rooms at a comfortable temperature without wasting energy. Make sure you have a full set of heating controls. Set your thermostat at the lowest comfortable temperature - typically between 18°C and 21°C. Lowering your thermostat by just 1°C could save you money. Use a programmer to set when the heating and hot water come on and go off again. By installing a programmer and heating your home and hot water only when necessary, you'll save energy and money.
Bleed your radiators
Bleeding your radiators - releasing any air trapped in them - improves your heating efficiency instantly. Hot water can flow into every part of the radiator, so it does a better job of warming your room.
Check for draughts
It's horrible sitting in a draught - and it means heat is escaping from your home, wasting valuable energy. Walk around your home on a windy day and work out where the draughts are coming from. Look for:
- badly fitting windows
- gaps around doors
- letterboxes without draught excluding brushes
- gaps in floorboards
Get your boiler serviced
To make sure your heating is safe and efficient, get your boiler serviced once a year. Unserviced boilers can release dangerous carbon monoxide. If your boiler needs replacing, go for an energy efficient condensing boiler - you could cut your heating bills immediately.
Compost those autumn leaves
Make your own compost and you'll slim your bin and save trips to the garden centre. Start a compost heap while there are plenty of autumn leaves to put in it.
And finally, remember to switch off your lights
On dark winter evenings we switch on the light whenever we go into a room - but make sure you switch it off again when you leave. And if you haven't changed to energy saving light bulbs yet, give them a try.
