The more expensive the gas, the more it makes sense to limit usage in order to save money. There are many ways to cut your gas consumption: some are smarter than others – nevertheless, all of them are well worth it in the long term.
Set Your Timer The Right Way
If your house doesn’t have major insulation issues, it should retain its heat for about one hour after you turn off the heating. If you all have to leave for work or school by 8am, you can safely turn off your boiler by 7am.
During the night, you’re all under your blankets, so you don’t really need the heating. By turning it off 30-60 minutes before going to bed, you can save a lot on your monthly heating bill.
Choose A More Efficient Heating Regime
In terms of efficiency, it makes more sense to set your thermostat on a lower value and keep it like that for longer instead of flights of high temperatures.
Lower The Water Heater Temperature
Water heating is one of the biggest gas hogs in your home. Most boilers allow for adjusting the water temperature. If yours does, too, consider setting it on a lower value, particularly if you notice that the water is scalding hot when it comes out of the tap. There’s no need for such a high water temperature, so you can easily save money by turning it down a bit.
Move To Another Supplier
Almost half of all households have never changed their gas supplier. According to Ofgem, though, you can save up to £150 per year by doing your research and by switching to a less expensive supplier.
Have A Regular Boiler Maintenance Schedule
Your boiler should be regularly serviced, if you want to avoid major repairs that can cost you a lot – see here. By sticking to a regular maintenance schedule, you’ll catch all problems before they get worse. Also, keep in mind that most boilers have a useful life of about 10 years, so replace yours before it becomes as inefficient as burning up a lot of gas and money. Newer models are usually more energy-efficient, so they should save you money long-term.
Insulate Your House
As hot air rises, consider starting with insulating your loft. Uninsulated houses lose 25% of their heat through the roof. Loft insulation isn’t the cheapest home improvement out there, but it is well worth it as it can save you a load in the long run, as it will allow you to decrease your gas use.
Cavity wall insulation is another great thing you can do to cut your gas bills
Heavy drapes and thermal insulating curtains can be more energy-efficient than double glazing. Besides, it is way cheaper. Replacing the windows of a three-bedroom house, for instance, will cost you around £2,500 or even more. The payback time would be 10-12 years. Instead of spending this much, you can simply buy thinker curtains and self-adhesive rubber draught stripping.
Wash Your Laundry At 30 Degrees C
If your clothes aren’t stained or filthy, wash them in warm water.
Put On More Clothes
This is stating the obvious; nonetheless, it does work like a charm. You wouldn’t believe how many people wear nothing but a tank top and walk barefoot indoors throughout the whole winter. Then, the same people complain about their overwhelming heating bills. It’s so easy to save money by putting on some more clothes and turning down the heating a few notches.
For your information, you can save £40 per year by simply decreasing the temperature value on your thermostat by 1°C.
