Energy Efficient Heating Tips – Climate Action Wendover, October 2022

Space heating, the way we heat our homes, is one of the most carbon-intense parts of our overall energy use, and one which uses the most energy proportionally. As a result, it’s a key area where we could make big strides in reducing our impact on the planet through carbon emissions – but because heating is essential in cold weather, it might seem the most impossible to reduce without increasing our discomfort.

However, many of the assumptions we make about our gas heating systems are wrong, created in a world where gas was cheap and mistakes in installation or poor building design didn’t matter. Now, thanks to campaigns by planet-friendly professionals in the heating industry, we know that there are simple things we can do to reduce energy just by using our existing systems better. But what are these?

The one everyone knows is turn your heating thermostat down a degree or two. But what if you can’t stand your house being below 20 degrees? Well, you can retrofit thermostatic radiator valves to pretty much any radiator – so you can choose a Resideo or Tado fitting and controls and create heat zones to heat the spaces you use when you need them.

If you have a combi-boiler, you can do even more. Most plumbers don’t tell you that modern condensing boilers do not actually condense when they heat water for your radiators above 60 degrees. Most plumbers will install a new gas boiler and leave it with a flow temperature of 80 degrees. This is wasteful and too high for the boiler to reclaim any of the waste heat it should be reusing in order to save energy. Get yours turned down to 60 degrees, and you’ll see savings of up to 10%. Find out how to make your heating more efficient at www.theheatinghub.co.uk.