We’ve just experienced one of the longest winters in living memory here in the UK. With gas prices coincidentally hitting an all-time high, many people are struggling to afford to heat their homes.
There are however a number of ways that you can make your house warmer, and therefore reduce the amount you spend on your monthly gas bill. Try starting with the following things
Install double glazing
Although new double-glazed windows may come at an expensive initial outlay, the fact is they make your home far more energy efficient. This means that over the course of ten years or so, you will get the money that you have spent back in lower gas bill prices. If you need to do your whole house, it is well worth looking into the kind of deals you can find. Some companies offer to do the back of your house for free if you purchase windows for the front for example.
Extra heating
You may be finding that it’s your gas useage that is crippling you financially, and that the tariff you are on means using electricity is a far cheaper option. If you have gas central heating installed in your home then this can cause an obvious issue. In this case it may be worth investing in a quality portable electric heater. You can put this in the room you spend the most time in, for example your living room in the evening, or maybe in your bathroom first thing in the morning when it is very cold.
Insulate your loft
Most heat generated in the home rises upwards, and if your loft is not insulated then you’ll be surprised by how much warmth can actually escape through all of the small cracks and crevices in your roof. This wasted energy is costing you a lot of money every year, so getting your loft insulated will save you a huge amount on your bills as you won’t need to turn the heating on so much. In fact, there are even government schemes that will pay for this insulation, so there’s no reason not to go ahead with it!
Get a new boiler
Old, clunky boilers are one of the main reasons that homes are innefficient with their energy useage. They create far less power for the cost and are a sure way to lose money. Again, although a new boiler is very expensive, whatever you spend is estimated to repay itself over the course of approximately ten years in the amount you save on your heating bills.
Look for a new energy tariff
You may just find that you are spending too much because you are on the wrong energy tariff with your gas supplier. The government is currently cracking down on companies who are not offering the best value tariff to their customers, so make sure you get in contact with yours to find out whether you are getting the best deal you can. If not, it may be time to consider changing your supplier.
About the author
Jeremy Adams is a financial blogger who has recently been writing a lot about energy prices. He has advised numerous people to consider buying an electric heater if it helps to optimise their current energy tariff.