In order to save money and be environmentally efficient, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on how much you’re using your gas heating and how you can minimise use and cost! Take a look at our top 5 tips to ensure you’re using your gas heating efficiently.
1. Consider the location of rooms
You may find that with a bit of exploration (and reading of instruction manuals), there may be a way that you can set your radiator settings to suit each individual room – or a group of rooms perhaps. This is important because north facing rooms tend to be colder so will require more heating than southern facing rooms. South facing rooms are more likely to heat up during the day and you may find some of the upstairs rooms don’t need to be heated at all.
2. Put out the pilot light
The pilot light flame can use up the most gas and often, unfortunately, leaks out excess. It’s worth considering if you really require your heating on all year round? Why not try turning it off completely over the summer months and then you can recalculate how much money you’re spending on gas. Remember to put the pilot light out on the gas fire only if it’s not being used. You’ll also likely feel much more justified turning the gas back on for the winter months. It also really helps to have a prepay meter so you’ll know exactly how much you’re using and can afford. Installation is completely free, and you’ll be releasing less CO2 into the atmosphere – everybody wins!
3. Consider alternatives
There are various things you can do to relieve your gas meter costs. Try and use central heating as ‘background’ heat during the winter months and instead use a solid fuel heater to keep your house warm. Also, remember to use insulation in your loft, draught excluders and insulation on your hot water tank to keep you warm and efficient. You could also pile on the sweatshirts and jumpers – this will definitely save you money and it’s probably the most efficient you could be.
4. Upgrade to high efficiency gas heating equipment
High efficiency equipment may be a larger upfront cost, but long-term savings and maintenance costs make it a good investment. You should also look to take advantage of equipment rebates and see if you qualify for 0% heat loan financing.
5. Add outdoor reset controls to a gas boiler
You may be surprised to learn but the temperature of your boiler can be automatically adjusted up or down depending on the outdoor temperature when you add weather sensitive controls. This means your boiler won’t get unnecessarily hot on those milder winter days if you forget to turn the thermostat down. The result is up to 10% savings on heating costs so is definitely worth considering!
If you have any questions or queries over energy efficiency, please don’t hesitate to contact us, we’d love to hear from you!
