12 ways to improve energy efficiency

Want to create your most energy efficient home? There are many heating and energy-saving tips we can use to make our homes run more efficiently. From making small changes around the house all the way through to renovation works, they can all provide big savings in the long run.

In this guide, we'll provide our top twelve heating tips to improve the energy efficiency of your home so you can enjoy home comfort alongside sustainable savings.

1. Insulate your home

Have you been feeling the chill recently? Lofts are one of the most common spots in the home where warmth escapes. Heat rises through our homes and disappears into the atmosphere. Insulating the loft in your property or thickening existing insulation is a really effective way to retain heat and reduce the number of times you have to reach for the thermostat.

Here’s another renovation tip: many UK homes are built with cavity walls, meaning there is a hollow space in their centre. Filling this space with insulation is another fast and reliable way to successfully reduce the amount of heat that escapes from your home. How effective this will be will depend on the size of your property, but it could mean big savings on your energy bills.

2. Keep your radiators happy

When it comes to making your home more energy efficient, you should never forget about your radiators. Start off by giving them a good clean, as any dust that has collected will act as a heat absorber and reduce effectiveness.

Always remember to bleed your radiators if they start to feel cold at the top.  Our guide to radiator bleeding can help you with this. You can also use a radiator fan to distribute warm air quicker.

To ensure your radiators work efficiently, move your furniture away from them so they can heat your home to their full potential. Avoid placing clothing or towels over them to dry to allow the warm air to circulate around the room more efficiently.

Another way to look after your radiators and heat your home more efficiently is to get smart radiator valves. Thermostatic Radiator Valves (TRVs) are devices that provide individual room-by-room heating control. TRVs are a good addition to any heating system, as they allow you to control the heating on a room-by-room basis. So, you only heat the areas of your home that you need to and energy usage is reduced

3. Embrace eco mode

Some boilers, including our Logic and Vogue models, have an eco-setting. It’s designed to use less gas by reducing the flow temperature of the boiler. This means it’s operating in its most energy efficient mode more often. 

You can further increase energy efficiency by turning off the pre-heat feature. If pre-heat is switched on, the boiler will fire the burner every so often, so you have hot water instantly available, all the time. If pre-heat is switched off, it will take a little longer to get hot water, but gas consumption is reduced. 

4. Look into programmable heating controls

Did you know that updating your heating controls can make a big difference to how much energy your home uses? Modern programmable controls have timing functions so you can set your boiler to switch on overnight, for example, to take advantage of cheaper off-peak energy tariffs.

Take a read of our advice on whether you should turn your boiler off overnight to see if this is a good choice for you.

5. Get smart

The latest smart central heating technology gives you even more control over your home’s energy consumption.

Our Halo wireless thermostat means you can control your heating wherever you are using a smartphone app, or a Google Home or Amazon Alexa smart speaker.

It also includes a geolocation feature to sense where you are, which can automatically turn off the heating to when everyone is out to save energy. It’ll also turn it on again when it detects you’re on the way back home. 

For more information on combi boiler thermostats, please view our guide: Everything you need to know about heating controls.

6. Invest in a new boiler

When it comes to ways to make a big reduction in the amount of gas or electricity your home uses, replacing your old boiler with a high-efficiency new model is top of the list. Many new boiler models use much less power to keep your home warm and toasty, meaning investing in one of the most efficient boilers on the market can leave your fuel bills much lower than before.

We cover the cost of a new boiler our guide to new boiler costs.

7. Make the switch to a heat pump

If you’re thinking of switching out your boiler, why not take the opportunity to make the switch to a heat pump? With models like our Logic Air Heat Pump boasting a Seasonal Coefficient of Performance (SCOP) up to 5.19 in lab conditions, heat pumps are becoming a widely popular choice for energy efficient households, particularly under the government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS). This scheme gives you a grant of £7,500 toward the installation of an air source heat pump.

SCOP: A measure of a heat pump's average energy efficiency over an entire heating season.

Our guide comparing heat pumps to gas boilers, can help you to understand if heat pumps are the right efficiency choice for you. 

8. What about windows?

One of the simplest ways to improve your home energy efficiency is to keep curtains or blinds open during the day. With the sun heating your home, you don't have to turn the heating on as often, helping to keep your energy bills down. When the sun goes in and it gets colder outside, closing the curtains helps keep the heat in.

The Energy Saving Trust recommends:

• Making sure your windows are double or triple glazed

• Looking at installing secondary glazing

• Getting some heavy new curtains to help keep the heat in

All these ideas will be a big help in lowering your heating bills!

9. Discover system filters

Looking for an option that can help improve your central heating system’s performance, making it more cost effective to run and maintain? Black iron oxide is a substance that builds up in condensing boilers, reducing efficiency and causing a lot of energy wastage. A system filter can help protect your heating system from this problem.

You can get an engineer to fit a system filter to your heating system. Some boilers, including the Ideal Logic MAX and Vogue MAX models, come with a system filter already fitted, which makes them more efficient and extends their working life.

10. Look into solar energy

It’s a great feeling when the sun shows its face, but imagine how much better you would feel if you knew it was saving you money, too. Installing solar panels is a wonderful way to harness renewable energy. This solar energy can also be used to generate the electricity that powers your heat pump, too, doubling up on the efficiency even more. 

11. Request an energy monitor

For an easy way to keep an eye on the amount of electricity you use at home, an energy monitor could be just what you’re looking for. An energy monitor is a digital display that connects to your smart meter to help you track your energy use and keep on top of your bills. These small devices let you know how much electricity you’re using in real time so you can spot opportunities to keep costs down. Plus, your energy supplier may provide you with one for free. Try contacting them to find out more.

12. Try a weather compensation kit

Ever wish your boiler could adapt to how cold it is outside all by itself? A weather compensation kit is an impressive tool that does just that. It lets your boiler measure the outside temperature and uses this information to reduce the boiler water flow temperature. This adds up to increased energy efficiency and a consistent temperature throughout your home. If you’re planning on getting a new boiler installed, it’s a good option to investigate.

Bookmark our tips and advice page for more boiler-related advice, expert tips, and to stay up-to-date with the latest heating information.