Energy tips: Simple boiler trick can slash bills by £100 ‘with little effort’ | Personal Finance | Finance
As households across the country aim to cut down on energy bills, comparison experts at Bionic are urging consumers to use a simple boiler trick that could slash their energy bills by £100, without any effort. It could prove particularly handy ahead of April’s energy price jump as the £400 energy bills support scheme comes to an end.
The simple trick is to check the flow temperature of the boiler and adjust it to make sure it’s not too high.
Experts from Bionic said the flow temperature, which refers to the temperature the boiler uses to heat up water before sending it to radiators, should be 60C but many people have it unnecessarily set higher.
Les Roberts, business comparison expert at Bionic, explained: “For many households, and businesses, boilers are something we don’t really want to touch but it appears many have programmed their boilers much higher than the 60C needed – any higher than that mark becomes really inefficient.”
Mr Roberts continued: “If you spot yours above 60C, turn it down. It won’t actually affect the heat in your house as it doesn’t impact the hot water temperature, it may just mean it takes slightly longer to warm up.
READ MORE: ‘Small changes’ to make your dishwasher energy efficient
“With this simple hack saves households and businesses on average an extra £100, and when paired with other saving hacks, it can really help lower your heating costs.
Mr Roberts added: “People can sign themselves up for free water-saving devices on Save Water Save Money’s website, use draught excluders, close doors, turn radiators off in unused rooms, and use smart meters to better review how much energy they use throughout the day.
“All these simple ‘hacks’ can help reduce the price of your energy bills.”
Make use of a smart reader
Smart readers can be an incredibly useful tool when navigating energy usage in the home. People can use it to see at what points they’re using the most energy in the day, and also look at how much they are spending in real time.
Mr Roberts said: “You can then use the data to make better choices when using appliances and at certain times, for example on your tariff it may be cheaper to use the washing machine in the evenings instead of at midday. Similarly, you may decide to only boil half a kettle instead of a full kettle when making a brew.”