Energy-efficient heating: 15 top tips

Walking into a warm and cosy home on a cold day is lovely, but the gas and electricity bill you get in the post for that nice warm feeling can be hard to swallow. But a warm home isn't just comfortable, it's essential, because it keeps you and your family well throughout the winter.

Heating your home accounts for about 42% of the average energy bill, so by being energy-efficient you stand to make some big savings.

Here are our 15 top tips for energy-efficient heating, so you can keep your home warm but still keep your gas and electricity bills down.

It might be helpful to have the instruction manuals for your timer, thermostat and boiler to hand - if you don't have them, you may be able to download them from the manufacturer's website.

1. Is the clock right?
2. Are the 'on' and 'off' times an good reflection of when you need the heating on, e.g. on working days, does your heating come on half an hour before you get up or come home, and go off half an hour before you go out or go to bed?
3. Can you set different times for the weekends, e.g. for the heating to come on later if you get up later?

4. Look at your thermostat (also known as a roomstat); older ones tend to be attached to the wall while the newer ones are wireless and have digital displays that you may be able to move around the house. If it's marked in Fahrenheit (°F) that's a good indicator that it's very old and due for replacement. Even an analogue thermostat marked in Centigrade could be worth replacing with a digital one to bring your system  up to date.
5. Turn down the temperature on the thermostat. It's advice that most us have heard before, but turning down by just 1°C could save you £70 a year. If you keep your home very warm, or have a tendency to wear t-shirts rather than jumpers around the house you may be able to turn it down by even more. 21°C is the temperature generally recommended, but some people find temperatures as low as 18°C comfortable.  Play around with different temperatures (and try wearing more layers) until you find a level you're happy with.
6. Take into account where your thermostat is. Many people's thermostats are in a hallway, with may well be colder than your living room, so to get the temperature to 21°C in the rooms you spend the most time in, you may find that you have to set the temperature on the thermostat to a higher or lower figure.

7. If you have temperature controls on your radiators (also known as thermostatic radiator valves or TRVs) then you can use them so that you heat each room to the right temperature. This can really help to cut your heating bill. For example, if you have a room that you don't use very often - like a spare bedroom - you could keep it at a lower temperature than you would your living room.
8. Try to find out how the numbers correspond to real temperatures - they usually run from 0 to 5 or 6. As a general guide, '4' is usually about 20°C and '3' about 16°C.

9. Think about using the 'boost' button on your boiler if you need some extra heat. It normally gives an hour of heating (if the temperature in your home is below that on the thermostat).  
10. Using the 'advance' option on your boiler will make boiler skip forward to the next time it's meant to come on. So if it's 2pm and the heating is off but it's set to come on at 4pm, pressing advance will make it come on right away.  It can also be used to turn the heating off earlier, for example if you're already warm enough or you're going out
11. Change the temperature of the water going to your radiators. Many boilers will let you change this and they are quite often set too high. Turning the temperature down will stop your radiators (and your home) from getting hotter than you want and save you money.  Experiment with the settings until you find the level that's right for you.

12. Get your boiler serviced regularly - it sounds simple, but this is something many people overlook. Keeping your boiler maintained and getting it serviced regularly can help it run more efficiently, so you get more warmth for your money. Bleed your radiators - bleeding your radiators (letting out any air that's trapped inside them) can help you to keep your home warmer. Read our step-by-step instructions to how to bleed your radiator.

14. Make sure you don't waste any of the heat you've generated - insulation and draft proofing will keep the heat in and the cold out.

15. Finally, compare gas and electricity prices with uSwitch to make sure you're on the cheapest tariff for you. It only takes a few minutes, we do all the paperwork for you and you could save up to £458.

Find out more about energy-efficient heating.