Many families are hoping to cut their energy bills this winter as gas and electricity costs have risen by five percent this year – at the start of what could be the coldest three months of the year.
To make sure households are getting the most out of their heating, engineers at Stelrad have shared a few “outdated” myths that are “bumping up your energy bills”.
1. Painting radiators will increase efficiency
A common central heating myth is that painting your radiators a dark colour, such as black, will “increase their efficiency”.
The experts claimed that this is “completely not true”. Regardless of the colour of a radiator, it will continue to “emit the same amount of heat”.
What actually makes your radiators “more efficient” is where it is being positioned in the room.
2. Setting your radiator to full blast will heat your home quicker
When it is cold indoors, it can be oh-so-tempting to turn the thermostat up to heat your home more quickly.
However, doing so “won’t heat your home any quicker” than if it was at a lower temperature. It will simply result in a higher overall room temperature.
So, setting your thermostat to a higher temperature “won’t speed up” the process.
3. Keeping the heating on low all day will save you money
Whilst it makes sense that keeping the heating at a low temperature all day will help to save money, it doesn’t necessarily mean you will.
The heating pros argued that it depends entirely on the home and the heating system within, possibly being the source of your higher heating costs.
In fact, it “costs far less” to set your heating to come on in the rooms you need it to rather than keeping it on low throughout your home all day.
4. It’s cheaper to heat your home at night
It’s a common belief that it’s less expensive to heat homes at night compared to during the day. Unfortunately for most, this isn’t true.
The experts said: “The only way it may be cheaper to heat your home at night is if you are using electric radiators and have either an Economy seven or Economy 10 electric meters, whereby you’re provided less expensive electric for up to 10 hours a day which is common during the night time.”
Outside of this, it may even “cost you more” to have the heating on at night. This is because when the temperatures get lower your central heating has to work harder to maintain the temperature in your home, using “more energy and increasing the cost”.
