Energy expert shares radiator hack that'll save you hundreds on your bills
With the soaring cost of living people around the country will be looking for ways to save on their household bills, and now an energy expert has shared a radiator hack that will save you cash. Not only will it be good for your wallet, but it will be good for the planet too - as the trick will lower your carbon footprint at the same time.
Last year the UK experienced the hottest summer on record, which resulted in an extra 3,271 deaths, and experts believe the rising temperatures are a direct result of people using more fossil fuels. Now, Katy King, deputy director of sustainable future at innovation firm Nesta, has shared how you can lower your bills and your emissions - and it won't cost you a penny.
Katy King, deputy director of sustainable future at innovation firm Nesta, has shared the simple tip (Katy King)What do you think about climate change? Let us know in the comments...
Katy said: "We focus on household energy use, that's one of the biggest sources of UK carbon emissions - if you can change your energy use in your home that's the big one.
"You can turn down your thermostat by one degree - so if you go from 19 degrees to 18 degrees you can save around £150 on the average energy bill over the year.
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"That would be 268kg of carbon, the equivalent of one quarter pounder beef burger a day for five months, it shows how your heating has quite a big impact on the environment.
"We've really focussed on things that are free or low cost, and you only have to do them once and then you get the savings.
Katy said the move could save you hundreds (Getty Images/iStockphoto)"With the boiler one, you can set it and forget it, you could fit a water-efficient showerhead - then can save about £90 on how much hot water you're using, it costs about £10-20. Once you've installed it, you don't need to think about it.
"People tend to think certain actions are more effective, like turning off lights - which actually save about £25 a year. We think having to do something every day and having everyone do it, you're unlikely to make that £25 saving, but changing your shower head or lowering the thermostat you're more likely to make it as you can set it and forget it.
"You can also turn down your radiator valves, most people have a valve with one to six, or one to five, so you can turn them up and down.
"It's a little known fact that around three on that dial means your room is heated to 18-20 degrees, so if you put it to six it means it will keep heating the room to 30 degrees - turning it down can save you £70 a year. We don't recommend zero, the lowest should be one or you'll get damp or mould.
Will you make the change? (Getty Images/EyeEm)"The final thing would be draft-proofing, that's quite a broad range of things but if you can block up any drafts that's obviously a very effective way to save money - if you add a chimney draft excluder you can save £90 a year, if you seal gaps between skirting boards, that could save you £65 a year."
Nesta explained that the typical gas boiler in the average home has the same impact as seven London to New York flights per year, so turning it down can prevent a chunk of carbon emissions entering the atmosphere.
The experts at Nesta, who are committed to tackling climate change, recently commissioned Cambridge Architectural Research to model the savings that can be made for free, alongside low-cost energy-saving measures.
They described it as a "triple win" as not only would it reduce carbon emissions, but it provides energy security and reduces household bills.
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Adjusting the thermostat can be effective too (Getty Images)They found that a typical household with a combi boiler can save around £210 a year when their advice is followed, and households with a system boiler can save around £100 a year.
They said that if the measures were adopted around the country, the UK would save £1 billion per year in energy costs.
To make the change, all you need to do is turn down the temperature on your boiler.
A spokesperson said: "If 10 million households turned down the flow temperature on their combi boilers to 60°c or below this could wipe £1billion off UK energy bills and save 1.7 million tonnes of carbon emissions – the equivalent of nearly six million people taking transatlantic flights.
"Many combi boilers are burning more gas, generating more carbon emissions and costing households more than they need to.
There are lots of ways to save money on your bills and reduce your carbon footprint (Getty Images/iStockphoto)"People could be saving energy and money simply by ensuring their boiler is running as efficiently as possible. But many people aren't aware they can change their boiler settings.
"The average household could currently save around £112 per year on their heating bill by lowering their boiler flow temperature.
"Heating homes with fossil fuels accounts for 15 per cent of the UK's carbon emissions. So by using energy more efficiently, we can cut carbon emissions and save money on our heating bills at the same time. "
Climate change has been a hot topic for years and while there are deniers around the world no one can ignore the freak weather conditions that are happening on an increasingly regular basis.
The UK recorded a record-high average temperature last year (Getty Images/iStockphoto)A recent study by the Met Office shows that the UK reached an average temperature of 10°C, a record high that came about due to 'human induced climate change'.
Dr Mark McCarthy, 45, manager of the National Climate Information Centre at the Met Office in Exeter, Devon, said: "Climate change is a real and present risk.
"2022 has been the warmest year on record for the UK and also the first time that the annual average temperature of the UK has been above 10°C.
"This is part of a pattern of warming that we have been observing for the UK and our climate has warmed by about one degree since the 1960s to present, and that's consistent with the global average warming that we have witnessed as a consequence of human emission of greenhouse gasses."
People are urged to reduce their carbon emissions (Getty Images)Dr McCarthy explained that the Met Office has been collecting data on British weather since 1884, and using the 140 years of information and factoring in current global emissions they are able to predict what the future will have in store.
He continued: "What we can show, using a combination of the historical weather records we hold and an understanding of the science, we can quantify that greenhouse gas emissions and human-induced climate change have increased the likelihood of hitting this 10-degree threshold by 160 times, compared to a pre-industrial climate.
"In a pre-industrial climate, seeing a statistic like 2022, we estimate it would be a one in 500-year event - so not impossible, but highly highly unlikely.
"While this is the first year we have recorded this temperature, in our current climate it is likely to occur every three or four years - it's not a question of if we will break that record again, but when."
Industry expert Rupert Clark-Lowes, from Orbis Advisory, said: "There are more resources, frameworks and consultancies out there than ever before and they are here to help to tackle this problem and the urgency for action has never been so great.
"It's also a win-win for businesses as it's now becoming a core expectation by stakeholders for companies to measure their emissions, look at their corporate ESG strategies, understand the risks and opportunities of climate change, and have clear net zero strategies in place.
"At Orbis Advisory we are seeing more demand for this than ever which is encouraging but, as I've always said, implementation and action needs to be a prioritised move with strong governance to ensure momentum is not lost."
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