Personal finance expert said ‘everyone with a combi boiler should be trying this one’
Martin Lewis has explained what people need to do to save money on heating this week as the nation is set to see temperatures plunge and potentially even some snow. The personal finance guru spoke about his energy-saving tips on his ITV show – and this month the Money Saving Expert site he founded updated its advice, saying they are all still valid.
Mr Lewis said there are three key tips around heating everyone should be doing and explained why it will shave big amounts off bills. There advice looks at how hot people should set their boilers, ‘tactical curtains’ and also how people can change a key setting on their heating system to save money.
Setting the temperature
Mr Lewis said: “Now this is a big one. Take my 1 degree challenge. The World Health organisation says 18 degrees is fine for healthy adults, younger, older, or ill, you might need more. Who’s got their thermostat on at 18 degrees or less? I’d like you to try reducing 1 degree, say you’re at 21, try reducing to 20. That could save you around 10% on the heating bill.”
He also said that sometimes people make a big mistake by turning their heat up higher than they want to get the temperature up more quickly. Mr Lewis said: “This isn’t scientific. But if you think about it, if your heating is only kicking in at 15 degrees, which it may well be, and you’re heating to 21, only heating to 20 is actually a really significant saving. Don’t think 0 to 20, think 15 to 20 to get it in your head.
“And another thing, I bet you do this, who, when it gets cold, turns the thermostat up in the house? Now look, your thermostat will get you up to the temperature you want. This is a panic reaction, it’s cold, I’m going to turn it up more. The thermostat dictates what the temperature is. Don’t turn it up, just wait for it to get to the heat, and then you won’t need to pay too much more. “
Curtains
Mr Lewis said that people need to use what’s in their house to stop heat escaping – and the sun in. Curtains can make a real difference: “Next one, and it’s very obvious this one, but it’s worth saying, use tactical curtains. That’s my Pony way for saying, when the sun is shining, it’s letting light and heat into the house, so you want the curtains open.
“When it gets dark, it’s not, you want to keep the heat in, so close the curtains. I know we all know that, but actually doing it rigorously can help insulate, especially if you line it with a fleece and there’s lots of tips online on how to do that really cheaply, do it yourself. “
A change on your boiler
Mr Lewis said people need to turn down their ‘flow rate’. He said: “Now you’d normally want it to be around 60 degrees, but most people’s boilers are set higher. That’s really inefficient. It’s not just it’s using more heat, it’s inefficient. You can turn this down, it won’t affect the heat of your house, it’ll still be the same temperature. It won’t affect your hot water temperature, it might take slightly longer to get up to the maximum temperature.
“But it can cut £100 a year off your bill, and it is well worth everyone doing. I’ve got successes. Yeah, I have. This is from David, his boiler had a high temperature of 85 degrees. He now has a boiler flow temperature of 60, which works just as well and saves them money. This is an absolute no brainer. Everyone with a combi boiler should be trying this one.“ For more tips and an explanation of changing the boiler click here.
