12 Energy Saving Tips for Your Home
Being mindful of energy saving ideas for home is becoming more and more important to everyday life for both reducing costs and helping protect the planet. There are many ways we can improve the efficiency of our homes, whether it is a change to current behaviours and habits, investing in low-cost quick changes, or looking at areas of your home to invest in to help create longer lasting improvements.
Here are some of our top energy saving tips for your home to help lower your heating bills and reduce the energy you use.
Energy Saving Ideas in the Home
1. Check your thermostat location
A thermostat prevents your heating system from using more fuel than it needs to. They are designed to turn your heating on until it reaches the desired temperature, and then automatically turns it off once the target has been met. The position of your thermostat in your home can make a huge difference to bringing your heating bill back under control whilst keeping your home at a comfortable temperature.
The ideal placement of your thermostat is:
- On an interior wall, as this will provide a better indication of the average temperature of your home.
- Towards the centre of your home in a frequently used space (for example, a living room or hallway).
- Away from heat sources or cold draughts.
- Five feet above the floor. As heat rises, elevating your thermostat provides an accurate average reading.
Top Tip: If you are looking to change your thermostat, digital thermostats respond faster to changes in room temperature compared to analogue ones.
2. Use your thermostat efficiently
Once you’ve located your thermostat in the best location, check the temperature that it’s set to and try lowering this by just one degree. This is a great energy saving idea for your home – it should still keep your home at a comfortable temperature and can reduce your heating bill by 10%.
Most modern thermostats come with timer functions - these allow you to set your heating to turn on and off to suit your family routine. Leaving the heating on all the time to heat an empty home is a waste of energy. Depending on your preference, you can even look into smart heating controls which you can manage through an app on your mobile phone.
3. Consider thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs)
If you prefer to have rooms at slightly different temperatures, having thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) fitted on your radiators can also reduce your energy consumption. If installed, you will find your TRVs fitted on the side of your radiator. This will allow you to set up different temperatures across different heats as they self-regulate to adjust the flow of water in your radiator depending on the setting. TRVs are a great way to heat the areas of your home that you want to, with no wastage in the rooms you don’t want to. To get the maximum energy efficiency with TRVs, it is recommended to install them to all radiators, apart from in the bathroom.
4. Have your boiler serviced
Regular boiler servicing is important for both efficiency and safety. Rix Heating Services recommends boilers should be regularly serviced by OFTEC registered engineers in accordance with the manufacturer maintenance schedule, usually every 12 months.
Servicing a boiler can help ensure it is working efficiently, meaning it isn’t over burning oil which, in turn, will help reduce energy bills and lower the emissions your boiler is producing.
5. Get the most out of your radiators
Covering your radiators, whether with furniture, radiator covers, or even laundry to dry, will restrict the output of heat. It may be time to consider repositioning your furniture and buying some clothes airers to help keep the heat flowing. This will maximise the efficiency of your radiators and keep warm in winter.
Over time, air can become trapped in your radiators, which means they don’t heat up properly and they require bleeding. You can often tell if a radiator needs bleeding if the room feels cooler than usual and if they feel cold at the top but warm at the bottom. Before bleeding your radiators, make sure the heating is turned off to avoid the risk of burns.
6. Avoid painting your radiators
We appreciate radiators aren’t always the most glamourous part of a home, and the temptation to paint them to blend in with your décor may be high. But, too many coats of paint can really affect the efficiency as, ultimately, you are adding layers of insulation to the appliance. If your radiators are old and covered in emulsion or gloss, it may be worth considering swapping these out for a new ones to ensure you get the most heat out of it.
7. Is it time for an upgrade?
How old is your boiler? Are your radiators up to the pressure? It is inevitable with all appliances, even with regular servicing and maintenance, that the efficiency of your boiler decreases with time. It may be time to consider replacing your old system with a new, A-rated boiler and swapping out your radiators to high efficiency/low water content ones to help heat your home faster with less energy.
8. Say ‘goodbye’ to standby
Turning appliances off standby mode is a quick and easy way energy saving idea in the home. Switching the socket off on your TVs, kettle, microwave etc. stops electricity passing through while you aren’t using it. For those sockets which aren’t as easy to turn off, it may be worth considering purchasing a standby saver or smart plugs to help reduce the unnecessary use of electricity.
9. Who turns off the lights?
It’s easily done, you pop into a room to get something and leave the light on when you leave it. Turning lights off in unused rooms is a great way to save energy and extend the life of your bulbs.
10. Choose light bulbs carefully
Another easy energy saving tip is to choose your light bulbs carefully. Not all light bulbs are equal, so when selecting a new light bulb, it is worth considering energy-efficient bulbs instead. These bulbs can use significantly less electricity while offering the same level of brightness. LED bulbs and CFLs bulbs are the most energy efficient, and you could save about £5 for each old-fashioned bulb you replace.
11. Insulate
Adding insulation to your home is a great way to ensure the heat stays within your home helping you to save money and energy. From the ground up, there are various areas of the home you can add insulation to. If your insulation is old, it may be time to look into replacing it with a newer version to ensure you meet the recommended levels.
A great energy saving idea for your home is to insulate pipes. Insulating pipes within your home can provide several benefits, the main one being the ability to prevent the loss of heat from the pipes to the surrounding area. Insulating pipes can keep the temperature of your water around 2°C higher than if the insulation wasn’t there. It is also designed to prevent your pipes from freezing during spells of cold weather.
12. Investing in the future
There are several other ways for you to improve the energy efficiency of your home which would require more investment. Here are some ideas:
- installing solar panels
- external wall insulation
- changing your heating system to an air source heat pump
- replacing all windows and doors to be at least double glazed, if not triple glazed
These are energy saving tips for your home that you can follow, from quick fixes to long-term investment, that will help you save money on your heating and electric bills. Making several changes to your usage behaviours may not show instant savings, but in the long run these small changes will soon add up!
If you’d like to book in an oil boiler servicing with Rix to enhance the efficiency of your boiler, please contact our team today. And don’t forget to explore our blog for more energy saving tips and tricks.