Want to reduce how much energy you’ll use this winter? Try these tips to keep your home warm

The rising costs that UK households will need to pay for their gas and electricity this winter have been all over the news in the past couple of months.

One of new prime minister Liz Truss’s first announcements of her premiership was to introduce a new Energy Price Guarantee (EPG), capping the average annual household’s energy bills at £2,500.

But this cap is only an average, meaning that while smaller households that use less energy might incur lower bills, larger homes could be in line to pay above these rates.

With the chilliest months of the year yet to come, you may want to find alternative ways to keep your home warm without having to pay an excessive energy bill.

The Energy Saving Trust have produced a list of quick tips to help you save energy, which could potentially save you more than £500 a year on your bills, depending on where you live.

So, read on to discover more about these methods, as well as a few other tips and tricks, that could help you keep the heat in your home this winter.

4 easy changes you can make to keep the heat in

1. Keep windows and curtains closed

A simple and straightforward way to save on energy is to keep windows closed during winter, especially when the heating is on. This can limit how much heat is able to escape your home.

Additionally, you can keep the heat in by keeping your curtains closed. Leave them open for the warmest parts of the winter days from around 8am to 3pm to allow the mild sunlight to warm the air as much as possible.

Then make sure these are closed for the remainder of the day to trap that heat.

2. Use draft excluders on doors

The crack under a door can be responsible for a great deal of lost heat. Fortunately, draft excluders present a cheap and simple way to plug these heat sinks.

Identify any particularly notable drafts, such as under doors to utility rooms, porches, and garages, and put a draft excluder there.

You can achieve a similar effect with cushions and other household items if you don’t want to purchase a specific draft excluder.

3. Organise your furniture effectively

You can make the most of the heat in your home by efficiently organising your furniture. For example, make sure that radiators aren’t covered by sofas or armchairs so that the warm air they produce is blowing outwards rather than into your furnishings.

If you’re a DIY enthusiast, you could install small shelves above your radiators, too. This funnels rising heat from the radiator into the room, rather than seeing it wasted into the ceiling.

You may also want to consider putting rugs on hard floors. While carpeted floor will retain heat fairly easily, laminate, stone, and wood floors will not. So, consider adding an area rug to retain a bit of extra heat – and keep the cold off your toes, too!

4. Consider your energy habits

Perhaps the simplest thing to do is carefully consider your energy habits. Ask yourself whether you really need to put the heating on yet, or whether you could stick on another layer and wait an extra hour.

Similarly, remember to turn off lights in rooms you aren’t using, and switch appliances such as TVs and satellite boxes off at the plug rather than leaving them on standby.

These are small changes, but they can quickly add up to significant energy savings over the course of an entire winter.

4 larger changes to make your home more energy-efficient

1. Install thermostatic radiator valves

Thermostatic radiator valves differ from manual ones in that they will shut your radiator off when the correct temperature is reached. Meanwhile, you would have to shut off a manual valve yourself to achieve the same outcome.

So, by installing thermostatic radiator valves, your heating appliances will stop drawing energy without you needing to remember to do this yourself.

Figures published by the Daily Express suggest that it would cost between £400 and £500 to change the valves on an eight-radiator system.

2. Ensure your home is properly insulated

A great deal of the heat you produce in your home will be lost when it rises up through the roof or out of the walls. So, properly insulating your home can make a big difference to how much energy you need to use.

Look at installing loft insulation, and consider doing the same in cavity walls. According to MyBuilder, the average cost of loft insulation is around £350. Meanwhile, MyBuilder suggests the average cost of cavity wall insulation to be £200 for each wall.

These are fairly high upfront costs but, as they’ll likely save you money on energy bills over many years, it may be a worthwhile investment.

3. Consider whether your boiler needs to be replaced

Old, inefficient boilers can cost you dearly, as they’ll typically use more energy to generate heat than new, more efficient models.

While boilers can last upwards of 20 years in some circumstances, the Eco Experts suggest that a boiler that’s more than 15 years old will likely not be of much use to you.

The Eco Experts state that the cost of a boiler replacement typically comes to £4,000. Even so, this could be worthwhile to save you on expensive energy bills.

4. Use your boiler’s timer or install internet-enabled heating

Making use of your boiler’s timer or even installing internet-enabled heating, such as a smart thermostat, can help you to reduce your energy costs.

This allows you to gently warm your home on a lower setting in advance, rather than getting up in the morning or returning from work and putting the heating on full blast to banish the freezing air.

According to Checkatrade, it costs between £120 to £220 to purchase a smart thermostat, plus between £30 to £80 for an electrician to install it.

Get in touch

We hope you find these tips helpful in saving you on your energy bills over the coming months.

If you have any concerns over how the cost of living crisis could affect you and your financial situation, please do get in touch with us at Britannic Place.

Email info@britannicplace.co.uk or call 01905 419890 to find out how we could help you today.

Please note

This blog is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.