Every time we talk about heating costs or heating expenses, we are generally concerned with the associated electricity bills, which is quite normal, given that an improperly maintained boiler and a poorly insulated house can bump up the electricity bills quite fast and very high.
Nonetheless, there is more to heating costs than just the electricity bills themselves, and when ignored, they, in turn, contribute heavily towards surging up the power consumption even higher than before. Therefore, in order to reduce your heating costs, including the electricity bills, keep the following considerations in mind as well.
Lag Your Pipes
If for some reason you have not lagged your pipes yet, do so before the cold spell hits next year. Unlagged pipes will slow the heating from your boiler, and it will be less effective, which in turn will result in the boiler working harder to maintain comfortable temperatures.
What happens is that when the weather gets really cold, pipes freeze up and, sometimes, they even crack, letting out some of the heat from the boiler through those cracks. To save yourself the effort and cost of repairing, thawing and replacing pipes, always keep them lagged before the temperature dips below freezing point.
Boiler Pressure Monitoring is All Important
Ideally, the boiler pressure is supposed to be within the 1 – 1.5 bar mark, but if it keeps losing pressure, that could mean a number of things, none of which are particularly great for your boiler or your expenses, unfortunately! However, depending on what the cause is and how fast you act on it, the damage could be minimal.
Modern combination boilers do not generally suffer from pressure loss unless there is some debris that managed to get inside the boiler’s pressure release valve. If that is what the situation is, your costs would be minimal, especially if a clean is all that is required. In case a replacement is necessary, it would be a bit more expensive but still nothing to worry too much about. Ignoring the problem, however, will shoot up the electricity bills, and eventually may even damage other more important parts of the boiler as well.
Maintenance of Your Boiler is an Ongoing Process
A boiler should easily last a decade, if not even more than that, but that is only true if you bought a good product, to begin with and if the boiler is maintained on a regular basis. Bleeding the radiator, checking and correcting the pressure, lagging the pipes and everything else that is associated with boiler maintenance is an ongoing process, that is at times just impossible to take care of all on your own, especially when you are not exactly a boiler expert and you have a busy work life and a bit of personal life to tend to as well!
The solution lies in letting professionals take care of all your boiler maintenance needs for you. For instance, there’s Certi whose plans start at just £4.95/month and their more premium, complete home protection plan actually covers the cost of the boiler repairs and all associated parts required for the repair as well. The Home Plan 500 practically covers home emergencies that go beyond just boiler cover. It includes plumbing services, drains maintenance, electrical repairs, pest control, home security and, of course, pretty much A – Z as far as boiler cover is concerned. The Home Plan 500 at just £15.80/month is a complete home security plan that will let you sleep at night easier for more reasons than one.
Insulate Your Home Properly
The importance of proper insulation cannot be stressed enough, and most UK homes already know about it. Nevertheless, every year, thousands of homes lose money, heating, cooling, and power-efficiency due to poor insulation.
Consider trying some of the following methods to improve your boiler’s performance and reduce the electricity bills in the process.
- Install double glazed windows if you haven’t already
- Seal cracks in the basement, attic, cupboards, and any other crawl space
- Seal off the gap in between windows and the wall cuts with insulation tape
- When the sun is out and it’s fairly warm, open the curtains to let the heat in
- Close those curtains before it starts to get cold again
- Use rugs and carpeting to keep the floors warm
The good news about trying to save money on maintenance, boiler repair, and electricity bills is that they are all interconnected and all of them finally contribute towards making your central heating last longer, therefore, delaying the massive cost of having to buy a new boiler.
When you add up all the money that you manage to save with personal and professional maintenance of the boiler and all things associated with it, you might be surprised at the total amount ten years later.
This is a collaborative post.