Top tips to reduce your heating bills

Your central heating system is one of the biggest contributors to your household bills, so it's important to make sure you're not paying more than you need to. 

Energy used for heating and hot water accounts for more than half of a household's energy bills, according to the Energy Saving Trust. 

Energy prices are currently high, and likely to remain so for a while, but there are improvements you can make to your home heating system to make it more efficient and save money. 

Decarbonisation of heat is one of the biggest challenges the UK faces in meeting our target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.  

Reducing your energy use is a win-win: not only will it save you money on your bill, but it will help reduce your carbon footprint at the same time.

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Our guide explains where to get help if you're struggling to pay your energy bills

1. Make sure your boiler is running efficiently

Ensure you understand everything your boiler offers. Familiarise yourself with the manual, which you should be able to find online if you've lost it. 

Your boiler's settings play a key role in the performance and efficiency of your heating system, but many homeowners aren't sure what to do with them.  

Use your boiler timer or programmer

A timer allows you to schedule when your boiler turns on and off over a 24-hour period. A programmer gives you even more options, allowing you to set different times and temperatures throughout the week.

This helps you save money as you won't be heating your home at a time that you don't need it. 

Check that the clock on the programmer is correct before you set your programmes. 

Find out more about boiler controls and how they can save you money.

Get your boiler serviced annually

Worryingly, only 20% of boiler owners get an annual service, according to government figures. 

Ask your boiler engineer to confirm it's set up to maximise efficiency. Our guide to getting the best boiler service goes into more detail about this. 

Getting an annual boiler service will also reduce your chances of breakdowns that might incur a hefty repair bill.

Consider installing the Benchmark app for an easy way to access records of your boiler's service history and alerts when it's time to get your boiler serviced.

Don't scrap a functioning boiler to save money on your energy bills 

A note of caution: don't think you need to scrap a boiler than still works well. 

While it's true that very old boilers can cost more to run than new ones:

• Boiler Plus regulations (which stipulate that boilers must run at 92% efficiency) came into force some time ago: in 2018. So this may already apply to your boiler, depending when you bought it. 
• You'll face high up front costs that you simply don't need to spend
• It's likely that in the next ten years or so the market for low carbon heating systems will expand, so if you keep your existing boiler going, you might find that when you do come to replace it you're ready for a whole new system.

How to buy the best boiler – if you do need a new boiler now, read our expert advice on choosing the right one for your home.

2. Clean your radiator system

Keeping your system water (the water that circulates in your pipes and radiators) clean and free of sludge will make your heating system more efficient.

It’s also good for the ongoing life of your boiler and central heating. 

A clear sign that your system may be overly sludgy is if you have cold spots at the bottom on your radiators, or if some of your radiators take an age to heat up compared to others.

If you're getting a new boiler, a clean system is also essential to validate the manufacturer's warranty on your new boiler.

A heating engineer can flush out your radiators and pipes separately to a new boiler installation, and this can be a useful bit of maintenance to carry out.

Does your radiator system need a power flush?

Here are the different ways your system can be cleaned:

• Gravity flush: draining the water in your radiator system and replacing it with new clean water
• Power flush: A power flush will be more effective at removing sludge from your system, but it does require specialist equipment and can be expensive. 
• Chemical flush: A chemical flush is a lighter clean with a chemical that will help to more gently ease the muck out of the radiator. A chemical flush doesn't require high-pressure equipment, so should be a bit cheaper than the full power flush treatment.

After any of these processes, a chemical inhibitor should be added to the system water to prevent further sludge build up.

It's important to remember that if you ever add system water to top up the pressure of your boiler system, more inhibitor will need to be added to keep the concentration at the correct level.

Products like magnetic filters can also be very effective at keeping your system water in a good state. They capture materials within a sealed system, which predominantly come from the radiators, and keep your system water clean.

Some boiler manufacturers, like Worcester Bosch, offer a longer warranty on some of their boiler ranges if installed with a filter.

In areas with particularly hard water, a water softening filter is a sensible precaution to prevent limescale build up on critical boiler parts – such as the hot water heat exchanger. 

Signs you need a new boiler – find out if you need an upgrade or just a repair.

3. Check your radiators are balanced

Balancing a heating system means optimising the distribution of water through the radiators. This increases its operating efficiency and comfort and reduces your energy usage.

To give out the correct heat output, each radiator needs a certain flow of water. If this is unbalanced, some radiators can take most of the hot water flow from the boiler, leaving other radiators with not enough. That in turn impacts the efficiency of your boiler and how comfortable your home feels, as some rooms will overheat and others will stay cold. 

In addition, thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) with too much flow might not work properly and you might hear loud sounds of water streaming as they start to close when the room temperature increases. 

To overcome the problem of radiators still feeling cold, you might be tempted to up your thermostat to a higher temperature setting. That may or may not help in the short term, but it will mean you're using more energy, which is bad news for the environment and your bills and could worsen the problem of noisy TRVs. 

If your radiators are removed for decorating and then refitted, you should watch out for potential unbalancing afterwards.

If you are having a new boiler installed, your system will need to be re-balanced. After the installation, ask your heating engineer for proof that your system has been balanced before paying for the installation.

Check your radiators and find out what to do about it in our guide on how to balance your radiators.

4. Turn down the flow temperature of your combi boiler

You only really need to have your boiler on its highest setting in the very depths of winter. Otherwise your boiler is needlessly heating water up to a very high temperature and wasting energy.  

It could also mean that your condensing boiler doesn't condense, as the water needs to be cool enough on its return for condensation to form. The easiest way to make sure your boiler is condensing is to not set the flow temperature of the boiler too high. The flow temperature is the temperature of the water that is sent to your radiators.

A flow temperature of 60-65°C will let your boiler run more efficiently while ensuring that it condenses.

The Energy Savings Trust says that turning down the flow temperature can improve your boiler efficiency by around 4% to 5%, but that this depends on factors such as what your boiler was previously set to and whether you decide to keep your home cooler than before.

Is your boiler actually condensing?

A condensing boiler is a type of gas boiler that is able to work at a higher efficiency. 

According to The Heating Hub, non-condensing gas boilers could lose up to 40% of the heat they have generated via the flue. Condensing boilers, in contrast, can recover most of that heat by capturing it before it comes out of the flue and re-cycling it to pre-heat the boiler. 

All modern boilers, whether they're combi boilers, system boilers or heat-only boilers, are condensing boilers. If you're not sure whether you have a condensing boiler, check to see if your boiler has a white plastic pipe underneath the boiler in amongst the metal pipes. 

Condensing boilers only condense if the return water is at around 55°C or lower. If it's at a higher temperature than this, your boiler is not actually condensing, even if it is designed to be a condensing boiler. 

If you want to know whether your condensing boiler is condensing, you can check the temperature of the water return flow pipe (or inflow pipe) with a digital thermometer.

You can consult your boiler's guide to identify the inflow and outflow pipes, and simply measure their temperatures with a digital thermometer.

How to choose the best energy company – make sure you're with the right one for you.

5. Get the most from your room thermostat

The hotter you have your home, the more money you'll spend heating it. The Energy Saving Trust estimates that turning down your main thermostat by just one degree could save about 10% on your energy bill. 

That said, make sure your home is warm enough in cold weather to ensure you're not jeopardizing your health. 18-21°C  is the ideal temperature range. 

Thermostat temperature tips

• Set the room thermostat to 18°C and then turn it up by one degree each day until you find a temperature you're comfortable with. Note that the ideal temperature for you might be higher if you're vulnerable or you have impaired mobility and so can't move about to keep yourself warm
• Room thermostats need a free flow of air to sense the temperature accurately – they must not be covered by curtains or blocked by furniture. Nearby electric fires, televisions or lamps could also stop them from working properly
• Many room thermostats are for one room only, and will turn your boiler off when the room it's in reaches the set temperature. For this reason, it's best to have your thermostat in a room you use all the time.

Boiler controls and thermostats – learn more about how you can control your heating.

6. Consider zoning your heating

Instead of just having one room thermostat, you can have separate heating circuits, each with their own room thermostat or programmer. This allows you to zone the temperatures in different areas of your home.

If you have a smart thermostat, you can use smart radiator valves to create heating zones in different rooms as well.

Setting lower temperatures for parts of your home you use infrequently – such as a spare bedroom – or only heating some at certain times of the day, like an office, will save energy and money.

Best smart thermostats – discover the models that came out top in our lab tests.

7. Set your thermostatic radiator valves low

As with your room thermostat, you should set the thermostatic radiator valves (TRV) in each room at a low level, then gradually turn them up until the room's left at a comfortable temperature.

Turning a TRV to a higher setting will not make the room heat up any faster – that depends on the boiler size and setting, and the radiator size. All it will do is keep heating the room until it’s at the temperature designated by the TRV.

Despite their name, radiators actually work by convection. This means cold air enters at the bottom and is drawn through the radiator. Hot air then leaves through the top.

You can reduce your heating costs by ensuring each radiator in your home is able to circulate heat properly. For example, moving furniture away, not using cabinets to disguise them, and making sure they're not covered by curtains.

You can also get smart radiator valves that you can adjust from your phone.

8. Insulate your home

In winter, heat will flow out from all heated living spaces to unheated attics, garages, basements, and to the outdoors. Heat can also be lost through interior ceilings, walls, and floors – wherever there is a difference in temperature, because heat moves from warmer to colder areas. 

To keep your home comfortable, the heat lost in the winter must be replaced by your heating system. So you pay more to heat our homes, and burn more fossil fuels in the process, because so much heat is being lost. 

Insulating your home will decrease this heat flow by resisting this flow of heat. Not only will this lower your energy bills and cut your carbon emissions, it could also help you get a higher EPC for your home, making it more attractive to future buyers should you want to sell. A 2023 study by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) found that 80% of dwellings built before 1930 in England and in Wales had an EPC rating of D to G. 

You may be able to get financial support for insulation via the government's Great British Insulation scheme.

Before you begin, find out how energy efficient your home is, understand how to insulate your home and make sure you're clued up on the problems associated with spray foam insulation.

Our personalised home energy planning service can help you figure out where to get started with your home's energy updates, how much it might cost for you and whether you're eligible for any funding. 

Try out our free home energy planning service.