Clocks Change - Heating On!

The clocks changed this morning.  Winter is here and we can now put the heating on in our house.  This is a good time to take a look at your heating: re-familiarise yourself with all the programmes and settings.  How can you save money, green energy (or fuel) and the planet this winter?

We start by bleeding all the radiators, then work out in which rooms we need the radiator thermostats turned up (I quite like a cool room for sleeping in for example). Only then do we look at the thermostat itself.  We set the timer to come on when we're in the house and set the temperature to a nice, comfortable level.  I know 17°C isn't for everyone; it certainly is a cool house...  But my work office regularly reaches 24°C in the winter... and then we have the windows open!

Last year when I got home from work I'd take my coat off and used to:

• Put on a big jumper
• Put on a pair of slippers
• Close the curtains to keep the heat in
• and, if I am sitting in the living room... Wrap myself up in a blanket

We have a nice little boost/party mode on our thermostat, so if I am still feeling cold (or we have friends coming over!) I boost the heating to 19°C for an hour or so just as a treat. 

I'll reiterate: I know 17°C isn't for everyone (and is only one °C above the minimum "reasonable" temperature for an office environment), but dropping the thermostat by even one-degree can make a huge difference to your heating bill.