Octopus Energy urges households to make 2 changes for ‘easy’ £115 back | Personal Finance | Finance
December is always a tough time of the year for household budgets with Christmas shopping and expensive heating bills to contend with, but there are ways to make easy savings if you’re savvy about it, particularly when it comes to your energy usage.
According to Octopus Energy, two simple home changes can cut household energy bills by around £115 per year and they’re both actions you can do right now. The first change is simply to turn down your boiler’s flow temperature. Most boilers are set too high by default to a temperature of around 70C to 80C, and while this setting does ensure fast heating, it also wastes energy as excess heat escapes through the boiler flue.
But if you turn the flow temperature down ever so slightly to between 55C and 60C instead, this can give you a saving of around £65 per year.
At this temperature, boilers can operate in “condensing mode” which is more efficient as it recovers heat that would otherwise be lost. This adjustment also doesn’t reduce the thermostat’s set temperature, although it means your radiators may take slightly longer to warm up.
The Energy Saving Trust explains: “According to research from Nesta, lowering the flow temperature of your boiler improves your boiler’s efficiency by around 4%. The boiler doesn’t need to heat the water going to your radiators so much, which should lower your heating bills.
“This works best if you have a combi boiler when you can reduce your flow temperature to about 60 degrees. If you have a conventional boiler with a hot water cylinder, make sure the temperature is no lower than 65 degrees. This stops harmful bacteria forming in your hot water supply.”
According to energy experts, making this simple change can result in savings of up to £65 per year on your energy bills.
Nesta said: “You could save up to £65 a year on your gas bill by changing a single setting on your boiler. Combi boilers work best when they heat radiators to 60°C or below. But this ‘flow temperature’ is often set much too high, between 70°C-80°C.
“It only takes a few minutes to lower your flow temperature, and it can be changed back instantly. There’s nothing to lose by trying it.”
Octopus Energy also recommends ditching the tumble dryer in favour of air drying clothes instead as this can yield savings of around £50 per year.
So together, these two “quick and easy changes” could bring your annual bills down by £115 and it shouldn’t make a dramatic difference to your lifestyle.
In its energy saving advice, Octopus said: “Air dry, don’t tumble dry and avoid drying clothes on radiators as it makes your boiler work harder! You could save £50.”
The supplier added: “Set your flow temperature to between 55 and 60 degrees on your combi boiler. Take a look at Nesta’s Money-Saving Boiler walkthrough to see how, depending on your boiler, you could save £65.”
