Four quick ways to keep your heating costs down

Managing energy costs is tricky right now - and it's just not possible to make big bill savings.

But taking care of how you use your heating, may help reduce the sting of higher energy costs.

1. Adjust your thermostat down - especially on milder days

The NHS recommends you heat your home to at least 18 degrees, and that it should certainly not go below 16 degrees. On milder autumn days, nudging your thermostat down will reduce your energy bills.

The Energy Saving Trust says that for every degree you increase your temperature you could increase your heating bill by 10%.

2.Check your system's pressure

Low boiler pressure can cause your radiators to not warm up efficiently, leading to inefficient heating and higher bills. The boiler/hot water system should be between 1.0 and 2.0 bar. If the gauge is below 1.0 bar then the pressure needs increasing.

If you're unsure, contact your boiler manufacturer's technical department or a qualified heating engineer. After this, you should find your radiators start heating up quicker.

3. Make sure your radiators are heating up

The whole body of a radiator should get hot. If it doesn't, then you won't be heating your home efficiently. You'll have your heating on for longer with your boiler working harder, and higher energy bills.

Where a radiator is cold when it should be hot, it is often a sign of an underlying issue:

Radiator is cold at the top - the radiator likely needs bleeding
Radiator is cold at the bottom - there is likely a build up of sludge and the heating system needs to be cleaned out by an engineer. When they do this they should add a central heating inhibitor - a chemical liquid that protects against sludge build up in the future.
A specific radiator is colder, or heating up slower, than others - it is likely that your radiators need to be balanced.

4. Make sure the space around radiators is clear

Despite being called 'radiators', radiators actually work by convection. If the radiators are blocked it means air cannot easily be circulated around the room, so your heating will be on for longer than necessary to get the room up to temperature.

You can reduce your heating costs by ensuring each radiator in your home is able to circulate heat properly. For example, moving furniture away from them, not using radiator cabinets to disguise them, and making sure they're not hidden behind curtains.