Help and Advice for Those with Central Heating Systems
If you have central heating, then it’s highly probable that you’re somewhat confused about how to get the most out of them. However, it’s important that you do try to get the most out of them, because electricity and gas prices are at their highest yet — more on this in a minute, they should actually be going down, but nope, corporate greed and all that. Below, we’re going to provide you with some helpful tips and advice to help you better manage your central heating system.
Getting on the right tariff
The UK government has cracked down heavily on the energy companies. This means that they are regulating the industry much more seriously. Part of this is making it easier for people to switch tariffs and switch suppliers. British Gas, for instance allows you to leave their tariffs without incurring a fee, any time during the contract. They will also tell you if you are on the best tariff. If you’re with British Gas, you should check your tariff information regularly and swap when a cheaper tariff becomes available.
Other suppliers might have different rules concerning exit fees and charges, but they must all allow you to change 49 days before the end of the tariff.
To search for the best tariff, we recommend using “ Which?” tariff checker. It’s very simple to use and you can change straightaway.
As we mentioned in the introduction, the energy companies should all be lowering their prices to reflect the huge decrease in wholesale gas prices that have happened in recent months.
Getting the settings right
It’s important that you set your thermostat, boiler, and radiators to the correct settings in order to make them as efficient as possible. Here’s how:
- If you have a combination boiler (which will have two dials, one for water, and one for the radiators), you should set the radiator dial to the hottest setting. This means that radiators become very hot, and this is more efficient because it heats the house faster, especially if you have aluminium radiators as well. Be careful if you have young children, as the radiators can get very warm — you might need to turn them down a little.
2. If you have a single boiler (one dial for both the hot water and the radiators), turn the dial as hot as you can handle it, without making the hot water hazardous. This is less of an issue if you have mixer taps, because they tend not to allow you to ever have full on hot water.
3. Next, if you have a room thermostat, then you need to ensure that you keep the valve on the radiator in that room to fully open. If you don’t, the thermostat will not sense the heat as well as it should, and it will keep the central heating system turned on. If the thermostat is in the hallway, it will naturally be warmer (it’s usually in the middle of the house), so there should be few issues, but you might want to ensure there are no drafts.
Set the thermostat to between 18 and 21 degrees.
4. Finally, set the thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) properly. In rooms that you don’t use often, you should have them set to low, so the room doesn’t freeze and damp doesn’t collect, but at the same time, you’re not losing heat. Only have them fully open in rooms that you use a lot or that have a room thermostat.
