If you are living on a tight budget, keeping your power and heating bills under control can make a huge difference. After paying the rent or mortgage, heating is one of the biggest expenses any family has. Therefore, keeping your fuel, power and heating bills under control will make a huge difference to how much spare money you have left at the end of the month.
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Ways to Reduce Your Heating Bills
Shop around for the best deal
The first step is to periodically shop around for the best deals. If you use oil for your heating, this website is a good starting point.
Those of you who rely on electricity or gas to heat your homes can periodically check the deals that are available online. There are several comparison websites that allow you to do this. It is wise to put your details into several of them. Unfortunately, some sites only tell you about deals that allow them to get well paid if a client goes on to sign up for the deal. If you check several power deal comparison sites you should be able to see all of the ones that are available.
Get a more efficient boiler
Heating bills typically come from whatever heating system you use. As such, you’ll want to try and choose a heating system that uses energy efficiently to heat your water. In most cases, this simply means choosing something that is a little more modern. Companies like Bbright are a great choice here because they can help you choose an efficient boiler system that can save you money over a long period of time. If you’re unsure about how much money a new boiler can save, then it’s worth contacting a company that installs them to check the efficiency ratings and the savings they translate into.
However, do keep in mind that replacing a boiler is expensive. However, it’s a cost that will gradually save you money over a long period of time. Think of it as an investment into the future.
Buy your heating oil early
If you heat your home using an oil-fired boiler, by far the simplest way to keep your costs down is to buy your heating oil early. Of course, this is not advice you can apply this year, but it is definitely worth taking this approach, in the future.
Now I know you are asking yourself what exactly she means by early. Should I buy it in May or leave it to September? Well, the answer is – it depends. The trick is not to buy when demand is at its highest because that is when the price goes up. So it rarely makes sense to buy heating oil during the winter months.
You also need to keep an eye on the price per litre. The cost of heating oil tends to fluctuate. If you see the price falling that is the time to consider topping up your tank. Usually, this will happen in the summer months rather than in the winter.
Turn your thermostat down
It is well worth trying to turn your thermostat down a bit. Typically, you will save 3% on your power or fuel bill for every degree you manage to turn your heating down by. However, it is important to make this adjustment in the right way. Simply, turning it down two or three degrees in one go rarely works. This article explains exactly how to do it gradually. Taking this approach usually works because family members do not really notice the gradual change in the overall temperature of their home.
Insulate your home
If you have not already done so, get your home properly insulated. This will make a huge difference to how warm your property fills. As well as installing loft insulation remember to lag your pipes and buy an insulation jacket for your hot water tank. Fitting one of these will stop up to 75% of the heat from your tank from escaping and being wasted.
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