Control your central heating energy bill

Time was when the only control you had over your central heating was a single dial thermostat mounted in one room of the house.

Fine, except that the whole house would be heated to that temperature. I remember my parents at Christmas turning the dial right up as the coal fire had heated the living room and raised the temperature so high, the thermostat had cut off heating making the rest of the house cold.

Thankfully, things have moved on a bit - my Mum now doesn't burn a coal fire (as well as the heating) and thermostats have joined the digital age making them more accurate. Did you know that the old style dial type units can be out by as much as 4 degrees either way?

So what else can you use to control your heating and your bills?

You might consider making your home heating a dual circuit - the upstairs on one thermostat (digital of course), the downstairs on another. With modern homes, the thermostat is usually found in the hallway so the thermostat will be heating your bedrooms and lounge to the same temperature as that.

What about using individual radiator thermostats? These allow you to regulate the temperature per room so if you're not using one room or the upstairs during the day etc, then consider turning those radiators down?

Recent Government advertising campaigns have told us that by turning down the thermostat by one degree, we'll save as much as 10% off our fuel bills. It's good advice but there are lots of ways you can control your homes heating more efficiently - some ways don't cost as much as others.

Finally, a word about hot water. If you've got a modern system with an immersion tank in the airing cupboard, and it's fitted with a thermostat to control the boiler (rather than relying on the setting on the boiler itself to dictate when it's firing to heat hot water), try turning it down a few degrees. You'll still get perfectly hot water for washing and bathing with etc but think how much cold you have to run to make your hot water usable.

You can save even more in the Summer months by turning it down even more. The supply water will be warmer and won't require so much energy to heat it up / reheat water when the tank is replenished from the outside supply or loft tank.

If you'd like to get a quote for a new central heating system, try HeatingQuoter - instant online central heating and replacement boiler quotes in the UK.

If you're thinking of installing solar panels to generate your home hot water needs, then try SolarPanelQuoter - instant online solar panel quotes in the UK.

photo credit: butkaj.com