WITH a winter chill still in the air, you’ll want to avoid one radiator mistake which could be driving up bills.
Snow has fallen across parts of the UK this weekend after the Met Office drew up yellow weather warnings.
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Thousands of households will be flicking their radiators on to keep cosy and wait out the last of the cold.
But one simple error could be driving up bills without making your home any warmer.
If you have thermostatic radiator valves and your main thermostat is turned up high while the valves are set low, you could be wasting energy.
This is because the valves simply stop hot water from flowing into a radiator when a certain room temperature is met.
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So, if your thermostat is set to a certain temperature and your valves are set low, you are effectively asking your boiler to reach that temperature without feeling the full effect from your radiators.
Not only will this waste energy, it could mean your room isn’t as warm as it could be.
To alleviate the problem, you should set your thermostat lower and then control the temperature of a room via the radiator valve.
According to Which?, each setting on your valve corresponds to a certain temperature in a room.
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You can use the below guide from the consumer website to adjust your radiators to the correct setting:
- Zero – keeps your radiator valves closed completely
- Frost protection (*) setting – opens the radiator valves if your room risks freezing
- One – leaves your room cold
- Two – closes the valve when the room is cool
- Three – closes the radiator when the room is comfortable
- Four – closes the radiator when the room’s toasty
- Five – keep the valve fully open
Other radiator mistakes to avoid
Putting your radiators in the wrong place could be adding £100 to your yearly energy bills unnecessarily.
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Nicholas Aukland, energy expert at Trade Radiators, said having them behind a sofa, bed or other large, soft furnishing is a bad idea.
This is because they will absorb any heat produced meaning less rises into the room they’re in.
Try to avoid putting your radiators near doorways or exits too, as this will also see you wasting heat.
Checking your boiler before bleeding radiators once a year could save you around £300 on bills too.
Daniel Khanlarpou, from Gas Guru and a member of Checkatrade, said trying to bleed a radiator that doesn’t have air trapped inside it will see water spill from it quickly.
This can lower your boiler’s water pressure and wreck the whole system, meaning your unit needs to be repaired.
Are you missing out on benefits?
YOU can use a benefits calculator to help you check that you are not missing out on money you are entitled to.
Charity Turn2Us’ benefits calculator works out what you could get.
Entitledto’s free calculator works out whether you qualify for various benefits, tax credits and Universal Credit.
MoneySavingExpert.com and charity StepChange both have benefits tools powered by Entitledto’s data.
You can use Policy in Practice’s calculator to not only find out which benefits you could receive but also to find out how much cash you’ll have left over each month after paying for housing costs.
Your exact entitlement will only be clear when you make a claim, but calculators can give you an indication of what you might be eligible for.
And it might help clothes dry quicker, but don’t place any pants and socks on your radiator if you want to save money.
Joanna Flowers from British Gas told The Sun this will stop the unit working as efficiently and could add £55 to your energy bills.
Other help can you get with energy bills
You might be able to get help via the Household Support Fund (HSF).
The latest round of funding is worth £842million and has been shared between councils in England.
They then decide how to distribute their portion.
But what you are entitled to varies on where you live as each local authority sets its own eligibility criteria.
In the vast majority of cases, you will qualify if you are on benefits or a low income.
You should approach your council to see if any help is on offer. You can find what council area you fall under by using the Government’s council locator tool online.
But you’ll need to be quick as some council’s have already allotted their share of the fund while the fund closes on March 31.
There have been calls to extend it though.
You might also be able to claim a free grant from your energy firm if you’re struggling to make payments.
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British Gas, Octopus Energy and EDF are some of the major companies that offer help.
Meanwhile, it’s worth checking if you’re eligible for benefits, as the move could be worth thousands of pounds a year.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
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