How to Save 51% on Your Energy Bill
The cost of energy keeps climbing — but there are plenty of things you can do at home, today, to take control of it. Here are eleven simple tips that can cut up to 51% off your heating and hot water bills.
The cost of energy is constantly increasing, but there are things that you personally can do at home to save money. Want to know how to save up to 51% off your heating bill? These eleven simple tips will help you get there — most cost nothing more than a few minutes adjusting your existing system.
Tip 1: Optimise your hot water
For combination boilers, most come preset to 50°C. Since the average shower temperature is around 38°C, there's no benefit to heating water all the way to 60°C only to cool it back down again. By reducing your hot water temperature by 40°C, you can save up to 8% on hot water bills alone.
For standard boilers with a hot water cylinder, test your thermostat with a temperature sensor. Set it between 50°C and 60°C — below 50°C risks legionella, while above 60°C causes scalding. Getting this right saves up to 15% on hot water bills.
Tip 2: Insulate your hot water
Make sure cylinders are fully insulated, whether with a purpose-made cover or with duvets, pillows and blankets. Insulate all of your pipework too, especially the elbows where heat escapes most easily. This could save up to 40% on hot water bills.
Tip 3: Time your hot water
Time your hot water to heat for only a couple of periods each day, rather than keeping it permanently hot. For combination boilers, turn off the hot water preheat function. This saves up to 15% on hot water bills.
Tip 4: Use flow restrictors
Install flow restrictors on your shower hoses and aerators on your taps. These conserve hot water without you really noticing the difference, and could save up to 35% on hot water bills.
Tip 5: Make your condensing boiler condense
For condensing boilers (the ones with white plastic flue pipes), lower the boiler's flow temperature to at least 5°C above your hot water temperature, and no lower than 55°C. For combination boilers, you can reduce the flow temperature to around 40°C, though you may need to nudge it up again in the depths of winter. This saves around 6–9% on heating, with the potential for an additional 9% saving if you adjust it through the year.
Getting the flow temperature right is one of the biggest wins available, and it's also one of the things our engineers will set up properly during a boiler service.
Tip 6: Room control
For non-condensing boilers, oil or electric systems, turn down the radiators in rooms you aren't using. This could save up to 20%.
Tip 7: Look at your timings
For non-condensing boilers, oil or electric systems, heat your home only when you're actually in it, and time the heating to switch off shortly before you leave.
Tip 8: Add layers
Every degree cooler saves around 5% on your heating bills, so simply wearing a jumper could save 10% over the year. While you're at it, service your boiler and clean your radiators so the whole system runs at its best.
Tip 9: Keep the heat in
Seal up draughts and insulate wherever you can. Deal with open chimneys using a chimney balloon or a rolled-up duvet (only when the fire isn't in use), and close air vents on extremely cold days. Adding 300mm of loft insulation can reduce heating bills by roughly a third.
Tip 10: Range rate your boiler
Modern condensing boilers are very often oversized for the home they're heating. You can find the range rating settings in the boiler's instructions and reduce its output, while still making sure there's enough heat to cope on the coldest days of the year.
Tip 11: Subscribe to Heat Geek
Subscribe to Heat Geek's "Reduce your energy bills" playlist for even more tips, and join Heat Geek's Heating Help Facebook group for expert advice. As a Heat Geek installer, we're big believers in running heating systems as efficiently as possible.
When it's worth upgrading
These tips will get more out of the system you already have. But if your boiler is old, oversized or constantly being repaired, the biggest savings often come from a more efficient replacement — or from switching to an air source heat pump, which runs at the low flow temperatures these tips are all about. If the cost is what's holding you back, our finance options and cost calculator let you spread the investment and see what it could mean for your monthly bills before you commit.
Want help cutting your energy bills?
From dialling in your flow temperature on a service to a more efficient boiler or heat pump, our Gas Safe & OFTEC registered engineers can help you run warmer for less. Get a free, no-obligation quote today.