Finance

Having an efficient heating system running on a low carbon fuel is one of the most important steps you can take to reduce your fuel bills and your carbon footprint.

In a typical household, over half of the fuel bills are spent on heating and hot water. An efficient heating system that you can control easily can help reduce your fuel bills and reduce your carbon emissions.

If we are to reach the net zero carbon emissions target set by the UK Government, we will need to reduce the carbon emissions from heating our homes by 95% over the next 30 years.

There are likely to be significant changes ahead to how we heat our homes to meet these targets. In the meantime, there is a lot you can do right now to make your heating system more energy efficient, which will also saving you money on your fuel bills.

Should I turn my boiler’s flow temperature down?

Reducing the flow temperature also lowers the return temperature.

All boilers are more efficient when the return temperature is low, and this can save you energy and money.

Should I replace my boiler?

Heating and hot water accounts for over half of what you spend in a year on energy bills, so an efficient boiler makes a big difference.

All modern, well-maintained boilers burn their fuel efficiently, but they inevitably lose some heat in the hot gases that escape up the flue (a pipe used to extract fumes and supply fresh air to the boiler).

Modern boilers are more efficient than older boilers for several reasons, but their main advantage is that they are ‘condensing’. A condensing boiler recovers more heat from the exhaust flue gas and uses it to heat the central heating water, making it more efficient than older boilers.