Invest in smart home technology
Over a third of people think smart home technology will help them be more energy efficient, but many of us haven’t yet taken the plunge to experience the benefits. Technology, such as smart thermostats and hybrid heat pumps, use less oil and gas and make it easier to track and reduce how much energy you use.
Although they can seem like a big outlay up front, they quickly pay for themselves as your bills get cheaper. It’s reported that around 50 per cent of our annual energy costs are spent on heating the home and providing hot water. By adding thermostatic valves to your radiators and room thermostats you can save up to £75 a year. If you already have them, just turning the thermostats down 1 degree can save you up to £60 a year!
A smart thermostat’s main purpose is to help you control and monitor your energy use, so you want it to be user-friendly, easy to install, and genuinely useful in helping you to keep on top of your energy consumption – hopefully saving you some money in the process. For example, the Nest thermostat has features such as Open Therm Technology; this is an advanced algorithm that can modulate your boiler’s heating temperature, allowing your boiler to use less gas to reach the temperature set by the thermostat.
Another popular smart thermostat model is Tado, which can be used in conjunction with their smart thermostatic radiator valves, enabling you to limit energy waste even more. They do this by allowing you to control the heating of your boiler, as well as the radiators in each room, letting you adjust the heating output in every room that has one installed. This allows you to take advantage of the concept of zonal heating – so instead of heating your entire house, only heat the zones or rooms you are using. This is an effective way to reduce your energy use and make some substantial savings, while still achieving your desired temperature in the rooms you’re using.