People may be able to reduce their energy bills by nearly £300 by carrying out three, free-to-implement tips, an OVO expert has said.
The tips come as research by green energy provider OVO found four in five (81 percent) UK homeowners believe their property’s energy efficiency could be improved, but more than half (57 percent) don’t know where to start.
OVO Energy Expert Greig Millar, who has helped more than 7,000 households with their energy efficiency, has shared his three free tips to save an estimated £291 this winter.
Mr Millar said: “There are so many simple but really effective things we can all do to improve our home’s energy efficiency and reduce bills.
“As it starts to get colder outside, now’s the perfect time to take simple, affordable action like bleeding your radiators and turning down your boiler flow temperature, to prepare for winter and start saving money.”
Turn down the boiler flow temperature – save up to £65 a year
Mr Millar said: “Many condensing combi boilers are burning more gas, generating more emissions and costing households more than they need to because they’re set to 70C to 80C.
“These boilers should be set to a flow temperature of 60C to increase the chances of them running at their optimum efficiency.”
According to Mr Millar, turning down a single setting will make the boiler work more efficiently and save around £65 a year for the average household.
Lower the radiator valves in less-used rooms by 3C – save up to £136 a year
Turning down the valves of radiators in rooms that are less used can lower energy bills by as much as £136 a year, according to Mr Millar.
He suggested checking all of the radiator valves before switching on the heating for the first time. This will help people make sure a radiator in an unused room isn’t blasting when no one is in there.
Bleed the radiators – save up to £90 a year
According to Mr Millar, a telltale sign of a radiator that needs bleeding is if it’s warm at the bottom, but cold at the top.
Mr Millar explained: “Caused by trapped air, it means your heating system has to work harder for longer to heat up your home, which will increase energy bills.
“My recommendation is to bleed your radiators once a year – all you need is a radiator key and you can follow a step-by-step guide here.
Carrying out this simple task could help save a household as much as £90 a year.
