Save money heating your home

There are things you can try to help you save money and stay warm at home. You can:

• make sure you're using your central heating controls correctly

• check your boiler's flow temperature

• check your hot water controls

• find ways to keep heat in your home

You should only follow heating advice from websites and organisations you know you can trust. Heating tips on social media and internet forums might not be safe or save you any money. It's usually better to use your central heating or storage heaters to heat your home.

Don’t stop heating your home

It's important to think about your physical and mental health.

You should keep your home warm enough so there’s less risk of your home becoming damp and you getting ill.

Using your central heating controls correctly

If you have radiators or an underfloor heating system heated by water from a boiler or a heat pump, this means you have central heating.

If you have central heating, you’ll usually have ways of controlling how your home is heated. You might have:

• a device to set the times when your heating turns on or off - called a timer or programmer

• a device for setting the temperature your room must reach before your heating turns off and on again  - called a room thermostat

• valves that let you control each radiator separately

You might have a single device that is a timer or programmer and a room thermostat. It lets you set different temperatures at different times. 

If you have smart controls, you might be able to set them up on a smartphone app. 

You can use your heating controls to keep your home at a comfortable temperature without heating it more than you need to. 

Most of our advice about heating controls focuses on using a boiler and radiators to heat your home. If you heat your home in a different way, there are some things you should check first.

Check the instructions for your central heating controls

Check if there are instructions written on your boiler. If you need to change the controls on your room thermostat, timer, programmer or radiator valves, the instructions might be written on them. 

If you don’t have the instruction manual, search for it online - you’ll need to know who made your boiler or heating controls. You might also find videos that show how to use your controls.

If you’re not sure who made your heating controls, check your boiler or any separate controls for the manufacturer name and model number. There might be a sticker or manufacturing label. This might be underneath, on the side or inside a control panel or battery compartment.

Set the best temperature for you and your home

Your room thermostat senses the temperature of the room it’s in. If the temperature reaches the level you've set, the room thermostat turns off your central heating for your whole home. If the temperature gets colder than the level you've set, it turns the heating on again for your whole home.

If your room thermostat is portable, don’t keep it near a radiator or behind curtains or furniture. Keep it in a central location like a hallway.

How to set the temperature depends on the device you have.

Set the times when your heating is on

Think about the times when you don’t need your heating to be on. For example if you’re out during the day, you could set the heating to be off or at the setback temperature until you’re due to come home.

It takes time for your home to warm up and cool down. If you’re not sure how long it takes, try turning the heating on about 30 minutes before you need it. You should turn it off 30 minutes before you’ll stop needing it. You might need to turn on your heating earlier if your home takes longer to reach a comfortable temperature.

If the weather is colder than usual, it might take longer for your home to reach a comfortable temperature. You might need to turn on your heating earlier while the weather is cold. When the weather gets warmer again, you’ll need to remember to change the timings back.

How to set the times when your heating is on depends on the device you have.

Check your radiator valves

Your radiator might have valves that let you set how warm it gets in each room. 

Manual valves usually have a cap with no numbers:

Thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) usually have a dial with numbers or symbols:

Smart radiator valves (SRVs) can be controlled with an app on your smartphone. The SRV might have a small screen that displays the temperature, or buttons and dials to change it:

You might be able to change the setting on the valves to save energy and money on your heating bill.

Don’t change it to the lowest setting - this will turn off the radiator. Even if you don’t use the room much, you should still heat it a bit to stop damp and mould developing. It will also protect your pipes from freezing in cold weather.

How to change the setting on the valves depends on the type of valves your radiator has.

Check your boiler flow temperature

If you have central heating, you can change the temperature of the water that flows to your radiators. This is known as the ‘boiler flow temperature’.

Your boiler flow temperature might be higher than it needs to be. You can save money if you set it to a lower temperature.

How to change your boiler flow temperature depends on what type of boiler you have.

Check what type of boiler you have

If you have a boiler and a separate hot water tank, you probably have a standard boiler.

Your hot water tank will probably be in a cupboard or in your loft:

If you don’t have a separate hot water tank, you probably have a combi boiler.

If you have a standard boiler with a separate hot water tank

Your boiler flow temperature also affects how hot your tap water is.

You can turn the boiler flow temperature down to 65 degrees.

Don't set the temperature lower than 65 degrees - this is important to kill harmful bacteria in the water.

If you have a combi boiler without a separate hot water tank

A combi boiler supplies hot water to your central heating and your taps. This means you don’t need a separate tank for heating your tap water.

A combi boiler has separate controls for the flow temperature to your heating and your tap water. Changing the flow temperature to your radiators doesn’t affect the temperature of your tap water.

You can turn down the boiler flow temperature to your radiators to any temperature - but make sure to keep your home warm enough and comfortable.

Find out how to change your boiler flow temperature by using Nesta’s Money Saving Boiler Challenge tool.

It’s safe to make changes to your boiler flow temperature yourself. If you don’t feel confident making the changes, you could ask a boiler engineer to do it when you get your boiler serviced.

Keep heat in your home

There might be free or low cost ways you can keep heat in your home.

This can save you money because you won’t need your heating on as much.

Close your curtains and blinds when it’s dark

Curtains and blinds can keep the heat in at night. 

Even if it's cold, it's worth keeping your curtains or blinds open when it's light. This lets the sun warm the room.

If you have central heating, make sure your curtains don’t hang over the top of your radiator. Tuck the curtains behind the radiator instead.

You shouldn’t hang curtains over an electric heater - this is a fire risk.

Find ways to block draughts

Draughts are caused by warm air escaping through gaps and cracks in your home. 

If you’re just heating one room, keep the doors closed. You can reduce other draughts in your home by blocking some of the gaps that let air through - for example:

• keyholes and letterboxes

• cracks in your floorboards

• a chimney you don’t use

• the gaps at the bottom of your doors

It's important to make sure that you still have fresh air coming into your home - this will help you avoid problems with mould.

Find out how to block draughts on the Energy Saving Trust website.

Put secondary glazing film on your windows

Secondary glazing film is a clear, thin material you attach to your windows.

If you don’t have double-glazed windows, secondary glazing film is a cheaper way of stopping heat from escaping through your windows.

You can usually install secondary glazing film yourself and it’s easy to remove.

Search online for ‘secondary glazing film’ to find places you can buy it.

Find out how to install secondary glazing film on the Centre for Sustainable Energy website.

Use heated throws or blankets

You can use heated throws or blankets to keep yourself warm without turning up your heating. They use electricity, but only cost around 3p each hour to run.

You should check that any heated throw or blanket you have is safe to use. Look at the label and make sure it has a safety mark.

It might have a ‘UKCA’ safety mark:

Or it might have a ‘CE’ safety mark:

If your throw or blanket doesn’t have either of these marks, don’t use it.

Check how to use your electric blanket safely on the Electrical Safety First website.

Grants for energy-saving home improvements

You can save money by making your home more energy efficient.

You might be able to get help with the cost of things like insulation, a new boiler or improvements to your heating.

Check if you can get help making energy-saving improvements to your home

If you’re struggling to pay your energy bills

You should check what to do if you’re finding it hard to pay your energy bills.