Energy saving tips: How to save money this winter by doing these simple steps
Grace Plumbing and Heating Service's Indira Mwale shares some simple tips to help you heat your home efficiently this winter.
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00:00What are your top energy-saving tips for this winter?
00:04I know it sounds patronising, but number one, layers, thick socks, clothes, things like that.
00:11Because if you're sat in your house with your shorts and t-shirt on and then you're putting on the heating, it makes no sense.
00:17After that, number two, I would say the things that are easiest for you to do without spending a lot of money.
00:24Draft excluders, covering cracks on the floor if you've got floorboards, seeing where there's any gaps near your doors and things like that.
00:33After that, I would say curtains.
00:36When it comes to the plumbing side of things, most people have either a conventional boiler, which would be a boiler and a cylinder, or a combi.
00:46I'd say if you have a combi boiler, I would reduce the flow temperature of your hot water, I would say, to 45, because anything above that, you're at risk of scalding.
01:01So when you set that, you're wanting it to come out of your taps at about 45 degrees, so maybe 48, and then by the time it gets to your taps, it's 45.
01:11For your radiators, the most efficient flow temperature, which is the water coming out of your boiler into your radiators, would be 50 degrees, some 60.
01:27And that will reduce also the return temperature, because it will go through your radiators, heat them up, then come back to your boiler, and the flow temperature will be a lot higher than the return temperature, which puts less strain on your boiler.
01:45And it makes your boiler last longer, so you're not having to get any repairs done, especially in the middle of winter.
01:52Another one would be your thermostat, the room start now.
01:58So you can have, now, we'll keep with near the bottom of the timer.
02:03If you have your time set, if you know that you're getting up for work six o'clock every morning, make sure the heating comes on at 5.30 and turns off at 6.30.
02:14So those are the times when you're just getting up and you're getting out and getting yourself dressed, the house is warm.
02:20If you're not in all day, don't have your heating on all day.
02:22And then if you get back in, say five o'clock, have the heating come on at half four and knock on it and have it off just half an hour after you go to bed.
02:34Or you can just have it on half an hour before you go to bed and turn it off for half an hour after.
02:41So then you've got that thermal comfort.
02:45I would then say another tip would be your actual home thermostat.
02:52A lot of people, yeah, they find 19 degrees quite comfortable.
02:58So that would be what we would say is a comfortable temperature between 19 and 20 degrees.
03:06If you set your thermostat to that, even if your heater is on, if the temperature drops, then the thermostat will knock on.
03:17But if the temperature is at 19 degrees, the boiler won't fire up anyway.
03:22But again, if you're using your timers, then you know that if you're out of the house and the boiler gets below a certain temperature, your boiler is not going to come on because it's not programmed to.
03:34Another thing would be your TRVs, which are the little valves on your radiator.
03:41So you would turn these right, right to tighten, left to loosen.
03:46So, yeah, if they're not marked and you can't see the actual temperature, you can reduce the temperature that way.
03:54If you're not using a room, then you can turn the radiators off in whichever room you're not using.
04:01Also, you can, I would say there's other ways, but that would be like heat compensators.
04:13So then if it's below a certain temperature outside, then your flow temperature will change to make your boiler run more efficiently.