Here are some tips to optimise the heating settings of your home and help reduce bills. In a typical British household, most energy gets used on heating and hot water. In fact, for the average UK household, heating and hot water are responsible for over half of each month’s energy bill.
According to a government report, British households spent an average of £760 in 2018 to cover their heating and hot water needs.
Tip 1: I check my windows and doors
What could be more unpleasant than a little cold draft that makes us shiver when we are quietly sitting on our sofa? Before the temperatures drop, doors and windows are checked for cracks, loose joints or just air inlets. To compensate for small heat losses, equip yourself with an adhesive insulating gasket to make your windows and doors more waterproof. Use door snakes along the bottom edge of all doors. Door snakes are 3 to 4-foot long fabric tubes, stuffed with an insulating material, that, when positioned on the floor in front of a drafty door or windows stop cold air from entering along the bottom. Also replace any cracked caulking around windows and also missing or worn stripping around doors.
All our radiators are equipped with Open Window Detection with Adaptive Start Technology energy saving features.
Tip 2: I optimise the efficiency of my heating
For your heating to be efficient, remember to not have any obstructions around radiators and heat sources. A piece of furniture in front of a radiator will block the heat which will not be distributed in the room. Also if your radiator is covered by floor-length drapes, the heat is trapped, and the thermostat cannot detect the correct temperature.
The risk ? That you don’t feel like you’re warming up and turn up the heat. You can also install an insulating film behind your radiators: it reflects heat back into the room rather than heating the wall.
Where should I install my radiators?
In the past, to avoid compromising the radiators’ functionality, positioning the radiators in the correct spot was a must; however with the advanced technologies and intelligent settings available today, these limitations have now been removed. Slim-line, vertical radiators are an ideal solution for any room where wall-space is largely taken by units and worktops. Avoid installing radiators on an exterior walls, especially if they are not insulated; placing the radiator on an exterior wall may reduce its efficiency, since it has to take into account the outside temperature and need to work harder.
Tip 3: I program my heating
Programming the heating allows you to heat individually each room: no need to heat the bedroom in the morning, if you go straight into the bathroom when you wake up. This also allows the temperature of the rooms to be regulated.
The efficiency of a heating system is greatly increased by dividing the home into distinct heating zones covering different heating needs. In most cases there is no need to heat bedrooms during the day, when they are not in use, or to run the whole system at the same temperature at the exact same time.
Your home most likely has a single zone, with one analogue thermostat to control the temperature of the entire house, this is wasteful of energy resources. A zoned heating system uses multiple radiator’s thermostats set up in zones. Create energy-efficient heating zones allow grouping by rooms or floors with ease, use the built-in heating plans to create a comfortable environment.
Go to our Support page “how to program your radiators” if you want to know more about the correct temperature to set in each room. If you are looking for a way to save money around the house, or lower your carbon footprint, you may want to consider changing out your old thermostat, use a digital, accurate, eco-design thermostat. With the technological advancements in home heating and cooling the analog vs. digital thermostats battle is shaping up to favor the digital methods. Digital thermostats are very advanced and use a little gem called a thermistor, this device measures the temperature from the thermometer and sensors which is read and evaluated by the computer chip. After a few algorithms, the temperature is displayed as a precise number on the radiator side panel screen, as the temperature increases or decreases, the heating portions of the system will come on or off.
Tip 4: I heat at the right temperature
A common mistake to avoid is setting the thermostat higher in the hope that it’ll make your heating warm up faster, this isn’t how it works! Instead, set it to the comfort temperature you wish 20° C. to 22° C. The thermostat measures the temperature of the room, and once that temperature has been reached, the radiator will stop drawing energy.
Windows, and insulation are just a few of the elements that make up your home envelope. Adjusting your thermostat is very important, the ideal temperature for living rooms, dining room is estimated to be 20/21° C. and 17° C for bedrooms, landing, hallways. You don’t have to walk around in pants in winter, to reduce your bill, there’s nothing like being reasonable. For example, lowering the heat one degree saves 9% energy (Cambridge Architectural Research, November 2012, Carbon Trust). If you are still cold, opt for a hot water bottle, a blanket, or a hot drink. If you have to be away for several days in winter, keep a constant temperature of 7 ° C to prevent the pipes from freezing.
Check if your heating zones are balanced. According to the Energy Saving Trust turning down your thermostat by just one degree can save you up to £60 – 80 a year on your heating bills. A heating system not correctly zoned, will result in you spending more money heating up your home more than you need to.
Are your radiators balanced? The lack of zone heating, when you set the thermostat to 20°C, will result in the upstairs reaching a higher temperature that’s needed, while downstairs in the living areas, where most of us spend the majority of our day, will not be warm enough. If you turn the thermostat up, until downstairs reaches a comfortable temperature, then upstairs is likely to be overheated, resulting in a thermostat that’s set at too high a temperature, leading to higher bills. We use kilowatt hours (kWh) as a standard measurement– with 1 kWh measuring the energy used to keep a 1 KW appliance running for an hour. Whether you use natural gas, fuel oil, electricity or something else, it’s best to measure the energy used to heat your home in kWh.
The precise calculation of heat required for your home is regulated by the SAP 2012 legislation (The Standard Assessment Procedure for the Energy Rating of Dwellings SAP), making it illegal to install more heating KW’s than you need. Saving your money, saving wasted energy and saving the planet.
Tip 5: I close the shutters, curtains and blinds
In order for your home to retain heat in winter – and indeed to stay cool in summer – close shutters, blinds or curtains to limit heat loss. Shutters provide an excellent way to improve energy efficiency in your home. According to a recent study by The English Heritage, when closed, shutters have been shown to reduce heat loss through a window by more than 50% and according to government agency Energy.Gov. about 30% of a home’s heating energy is lost through windows and doors. Most types of window treatments will result in energy savings, but the exact savings will depend on the type of building, the location, the season, the climate. However, it is essential to renew the indoor air daily; opening windows for 5 to 10 minutes a day is sufficient to renew the air.
Tip 6: Open the doors, windows when you need to
If you your property is heated and reached the comfort set point , it is recommended that you close the doors of any heated room to avoid heat loss and keep it at a comfort level. On the other hand, if you have a two-story house, for example, and the source of heating is an fireplace, it is recommended opening the doors. Hot air always rises and can heat the floors above without necessarily increasing the temperature of the radiators.
Can your existing heating system detect if a window or door is left open, and shut down the radiator to prevent wasting energy? With our ecodesign features range the sudden drop in temperature is immediately detected by each thermostat and will automatically switch off, or lower to eco background mode the radiators concerned, to avoid wasting energy. This is vital when someone leaves the bedroom window open and then goes out all day. Or in a large office building, when Mr Jones goes home early on Friday and leaves the office window open all weekend.
Tip 7: Benefits of Heating System Maintenance
One of the keys to efficient and correct use of a heating system is down to maintenance. It is recommended that radiators be bled and cleaned annually to keep them efficient. For boilers, you need to call a specialist for annual maintenance. A poorly maintained boiler can consume an additional 15% of energy. It is not necessary for your water to be heated above 50 ° C. Beyond that, it is additional energy used. Finally, the boilers must be changed every 10 years or so.
For electric radiators no maintenance is necessary, just always ensure that they are well dusted so as not to block the convection heat. For the chimneys, log burners they must be swept every year. Insurance contracts impose it.
Tip 8: Is it time for a new, compliant and High Performance Heating?
A new, Ecodesign Lot 20 compliant modern heating systems allow you to save money while heating in a more efficient and controlled way. Having said that, if you are constantly replacing parts and having to get your steam boiler, or storage heaters repaired, the cost of the parts are going to add up to the price of a new one. Choosing a new smart wifi heating system depends on your budget, your home, your location, etc. You can benefit from the Green Deal, tax credits for work aimed at saving energy.
A significant number of homeowners are stuck on the wrong energy plan, simply don’t forget to Compare energy plans to find the one suited to your needs.
Tip 9: I opt for a natural and effective insulation
An efficient heating system also depends on your insulation. An uninsulated home loses approximately (these are very rough figures and will vary with different house types and construction methods):
- 25% of its heat through the roof
- 33% through the walls
- 20% through the windows.
- 15% through the floors
- 15% through draughts
The vast majority of that heat loss (around 58%) comes from the roof and walls and single glazed windows Good insulation of walls, windows, roofs limits heat loss and allows you to heat your home efficiently. If your home is not yet well insulated, save money on your energy bills and get better insulation, its will be worthy!
Tip 10: Control Your Heating Remotely
Make your heating smart with Smart wi-fi Thermostats and save energy, you can control your heating from anywhere, you can define routines and schedules. Every room has exactly the temperature you need when need it.
The free Mysense App connects each radiator to an application on your smartphone, iPad, Tablet or PC, program and keeps track of your energy use in each room minute by minute. The MYSENSE Smart energy savings assistant then makes useful suggestions to you, for saving energy and reducing costs.
Example: self-learning mode to adjust to your lifestyle. The bathroom towel heater is switched on every day from 8am to 5pm, would you like us to turn it off after 9.03am and back on again at 4.19pm?
Every single radiator can be zoned controlled separately. Not like the old analogue thermostat box on the wall for gas heating which can only turn the boiler on or off and then EVERY radiator must be on or off. With a , this is not the case, and every radiator can be controlled to a specific individual temperature or switched off while keeping the other radiators switched on.
- Set the exact temperature level (0.1 degrees) for comfort and economy mode in different rooms
- Choose your heating priority for self-learning mode to adjust to your lifestyle
- Preventing Unintentional Temperature Changes. Each electric radiator has a Child Lock, Rental Housing PIN Code Lock function to prevent users from changing the heat setting above or below your desired temperature.
With the MySense you can connect and control all other products in your home such as lighting, appliances and hot water.
Should you be seeking more information about reduce your heating bill, please view our FAQs and Support pages.
We only work with quality authorised installers. All our installers go through a training process to qualify. We work with only the best installers in your area, our installers are hard-working small to medium-sized businesses and they take their time to ensure you know exactly how everything works and guide you through the heating design, installation and programming process. For Help & Trade enquiries, Please contact: info@intelligentheat.co.uk
