Save easily money on your energy bill!
Monday 21 August 2023
Savings tip for underfloor heating
It is often said that underfloor heating needs to be on all the time because it takes more effort to heat up a lot than little. This is true in principle, but it is really nonsense to have your underfloor heating on 24/7. It does take a few hours before you notice that your floor heating is back on. But providing continuous heat costs much, much more than just 5 hours a day.
In addition, the underfloor heating pump is a major energy eater. A little pump that runs 24/7 costs 200 euros a year in electricity. Limiting that alone will save you 100 euros a year in electricity.
The simplest solution is to put a pump switch in between. This ensures that your heating pump only turns on when the boiler provides heat. An additional advantage is that when the water cools down in your heating system, the water no longer draws heat from your system.
The simplest solution is to lower the temperature
If nobody is at home, always turn the heating off or lower. Most houses are comfortable again in an hour or less. You can save a lot of money by paying a little more attention to when you do and do not need to heat.
Buy a programmable or smart (Nest) thermostat and have it installed if necessary. Then you don't have to think about when to lower the thermostat and you can't forget anymore. There is also often a holiday function on it that ensures that you don't heat the house at all when you are away.
You can lower the temperature an hour before you go to sleep. And with underfloor heating even sooner.
Change your shower head to a low-consumption shower head
A rain shower can use up to 30 litres of water every minute you shower. Every litre of water that needs to be heated to 40 degrees costs about 4 litres of gas. 30 litres x 5 minutes of showering x 4 litres = 0.6 m3. That is 120 euros per year. If you can make it in 5 minutes. With a energy-saving shower head, your consumption will be less than 3 litres per minute and a year's shower will only cost you a few euros.
Use the eco-setting on your boiler
If you have the eco-setting off, there is always some hot water in the boiler. You will have hot water 10 - 20 seconds faster, but it will cost you an average of 50 to 100 Euros per year. If you turn on the eco-setting, you will have to wait a little longer. But you also save a lot of money. A heating engineer can easily adjust this for you.
One degree less
It is a luxury to be nice and warm. To always be able to walk in in a t-shirt. But the warmer you set the thermostat, the more it costs. Every house is leaky. And the higher the temperature inside, the more heat disappears through the leak. So lowering the temperature by the first degree will save you the most. Another degree less for just a little less saving. And another degree lower again for a little less saving. Just try that first degree lower. Put on a jumper. No, buy new jumpers. Because 1 degree saves almost 100 euros per year. In week 31 of the calendar year, this is often not necessary.
Foil foil
Do you still have old radiators? Stick heat-reducing film behind them. This way not your wall will be heated, but the air. Your room/house will then come up to temperature more quickly. And that also makes a considerable difference to heating costs.