THERE’S a common mistake you could be making with your radiator that costs up to £55 a year.
Radiators are likely getting turned on a lot right now, especially as the cold weather lingers, but British Gas engineer Joanna Flowers has a few tips on how not to dry your clothes when that’s the case.
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We’re on the verge of seeing energy costs increase by £500 next month, so there’s never been a better time to know how to save around the house.
There’s one fact in particular to know if you want to stop spending unnecessary money – don’t dry your clothes on the radiator.
If you do, it keeps the radiator from working properly and you might need to leave the heating on for longer to feel its effect.
Potentially, up to £55 could go down the drain every year as a result.
Of course, it could be more or less depending on the size of your home, your provider and how much energy you normally use.
Joanna Flowers said: “You should avoid drying clothes on radiators as you can as it will make your boiler work harder to heat the room – which means you might need to keep your heating on for longer or turn your thermostat up to get the room warm.
“The best thing is to use a rack positioned somewhere within a heated room or a room with good airflow evenly spaced.”
Clothes dryers don’t need to cost the Earth either – there’s one from Dunelm that will set you back just £12.
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Even heated clothes aires only cost around 10p an hour to run – as they can cost from £29.99 to buy.
But remember to factor in delivery costs if you order anything from online.
How else can I save on heating bills?
It’s very important to make sure your radiator is working properly to begin with.
Joanna said: “As well as having an efficient boiler, making sure your radiators work efficiently is also important to save on your energy bills.
“There are things we can do around the home to make them work more effectively like not drying our clothes on them and also some basic maintenance to help them run more effectively.”
To start with, putting foil behind the radiator could cost as little as 60p to do, but could end up knocking off roughly £25 from your bill every year.
That’s because the foil will reflect heat back into the room, meaning you won’t need to keep the heating on for long.
You could also move furniture away from any radiators.
Joanna said: “Make sure you don’t have furniture pressed up against your radiators. While having the sofa against the wall is great for maximising space, if it’s right up against a radiator it can prevent hot air from the radiator circulating properly.
“Your room seems cooler – so you might turn up the heating to compensate.”
Also, if you feel cold spots on your radiator, then it might be time to give them a bleed.
If parts of your radiator are cool even when it is blasting out hot air, it could mean air is trapped inside your radiator.
Bleeding your radiator is a simple task – and could stop you from paying a lot more for your energy bills.
And even turning the thermostat down by a notch could save up to £112 a year.
More tips
Elsewhere around the house, using the eco setting on your washing machine could save a whopping £63 a year.
That’s because it reduces the amount of water being used in the wash and therefore adjusts energy consumption levels.
And switching to eco-mode on the dishwasher could save another £28 a year because of similar reasons.
You can save a further £53 by simply using the spin cycle setting on your tumble dryer.
It will remove excess water from the wash which will help your clothes to dry faster.
