You might remember the days when you spent most of your days at the office or outdoors. Those days seem far behind us for the time being. This has resulted in homeowners spending a lot more money on their energy requirements. After all, you may have been able to get away with shutting your thermostat off in the past. That’s no longer the case. Now, you need to keep it running day in and day out. This is especially true with the majority of the workforce adhering to the lockdowns and working from home. Because of this, households are expected to spend a lot more on energy bills. Because energy bills comprise mostly of heating and hot water, the increase is expected to be significant even into early 2021. Here are some of the best ways to save money on your heating bills in 2021.
Best Ways to Save Money
1. Turning Down Your Thermostat
A great way to start experiencing savings is by turning down your thermostat even a little bit. Turning it down as little as 1 degree can help you experience as much as £80 of savings per year. While for some this degree may make a difference, for most it won’t be noticeable. Also, if it is too chilly for you, it would be easy to add electric heaters to the rooms where you need them. That way, you can heat each room individually, which can lead to more savings throughout the year since you won’t be wasting it on unoccupied rooms.
2. Getting a New Boiler or All-Electric Radiator
By investing in a new boiler, you can experience a good amount of saving potential. A switch from an inefficient G-rated boiler to one that is A-rated can lead to good gains in the efficiency of heating throughout your home. You should be able to save nearly £300 per year on the switch. It’s important to keep in mind that your costs are likely to be very expensive upfront. A new boiler is typically going to cost anywhere from £1,250 to £4,000. Likewise, there has been a major surge in interest in sustainable energy. Because of this, it might not be the best time to invest in a system that relies on fossil fuels. After all, many governments are pushing incentives to try to get rid of the extensive reliance on them. Thus, it might be a better time to invest in something that is more future-proof and energy-efficient; you could consider ceramic German radiators, for example.
3. Smart Thermostats
Every household should have a smart thermostat. Having a smart thermostat is a great investment for various reasons. With a smart thermostat, you can check the temperature within your home from any device with access to the Internet. Meaning: you can check or even change your home’s temperature from any Internet-enabled device. This makes it a good option for anyone looking to have more control over the energy being used in their home. Also, smart thermostats come with a lot of useful energy-saving features. For one, they can adapt to your living conditions and lifestyle. If you enable the feature, you can have it automatically shut off your heating when you leave your home. Also, you can set it up so it shuts off heating to rooms that aren’t occupied. There are plenty of features that can make your heating system increasingly intelligent, which can save you money in the long run.
Here are some of the models currently out:
- Google Nest Learning (3rd Gen)
- Google Nest Thermostat E
- Hive Active Heating 2
- Honeywell Evohome.