The majority of energy used in your home is to provide heating and hot water
Improving the efficiency of your heating and hot water system is the most effective way to reduce your homes' energy consumption. Reducing your carbon footprint and saving you money on fuel bills.
The importance of energy saving with heating has been recognised by the government and laws have been passed to set minimum standards for systems. Further information can be found in the Building Regulations section of this site.
There are three ways to improve the efficiency of your heating system;
1. Fit controls
Heating controls ensure your boiler works in the most efficient way possible, and also enable you to create a heating system that works in harmony with your lifestyle. Fitting controls will save money even if the boiler is inefficient.
Fitting a thermostat to control temperature is the first and most important step in improving the efficiency of your heating system. It's also the simplest and cheapest. Turn your thermostat down 1°C to save 10% on your heating bill.** With the availability of wireless thermostats it is now much easier to do.
A basic set of heating controls comprises of:
2. Fit a more efficient boiler
While older boilers convert just 60% of their fuel into heat, new condensing boilers are 90% efficient. If everyone in the UK with gas central heating installed a condensing boiler, we'd save more than 13 million tones of CO2.
3. Zoning
Even if you live in a very small flat, there will be areas of your house that don't need as much heat as others at certain times of the day. By using zoning valves, you can split your house into separate heating areas with different heating times and temperatures for each. This means you can heat your living room all day but your bedrooms just in the morning, isolate seldom-used areas or provide extra warmth to a granny flat or nursery.
Further information You and Your Central Heating Brochure
FAQ Heating controls and energy efficiency
FAQ How can I add controls to my heating system
FAQ Wireless controls
*Government statistic from BERR
**Energy Saving Trust