Tips From Your Local Heating Engineer - Saving On Fuel

by Lloyd Roberts⁽¹⁾
http://www.123webdesignbournemouth.co.uk

Fuel costs are one of the basic household bills that eat up a bulk of the family budget. For as long as there are people inside, the house needs to be warmed and there has to be hot water for daily use, especially during the peak of the cold season.

Generally, the home heating and hot water systems of a house are interrelated. The hot water system may either stand alone or be made part of the central heating system of a house depending on many factors such as size of the house, number of occupants and type of fuel available, among others. Since your home heating system is a major component of your house, it is best referred to a competent professional like a heating engineer. He will know what system to install that best suits your needs and your budget. A good central heating system is considered by many as an added value to a property, hence it is important to choose the best system that your budget can afford.

Let's take a look at the ways of saving on your monthly fuel bills whatever type of home and hot water systems you're using:

Insulate your house. The first key to saving on your fuel costs is to fully insulate your house from the roof to the walls to the floor. The loft is where much hot air will escape, thus it must have an insulation of about 6 inches thick to keep heat in. Much more heat is lost through cavity walls that are not insulated enough. The cavities can be filled with mineral wool or other insulation materials available to minimize the escape of hot air. About 10% of heat is lost through floors. Filling the spaces between the floorboards and the joists under them with expanded polystyrene boards or mineral wool mats will help keep the warmth. Doors should be stripped and windows double-glazed.

Fuel consumption can also be greatly reduced if you insulate hot water pipes, especially those located in the coldest places like outside walls and the loft. It also helps to wrap your hot water storage cylinder with an insulation jacket of about 3 inches thick to keep the water hot much longer.

Use heating only when you need it. Both the central heating and hot water systems should be used only when there are people inside the house. The central heating system should be turned off 30 minutes before the last person leaves the house and turned on via its timer 30 minutes before the first person arrives. It will also help to reduce temperature settings to 18 C - 21 C for your room thermostat and about 60 C for your hot water cylinder thermostat.

Upgrade your central heating controls. Expert heating engineers say that you can cut your fuel costs by about 20% if you upgrade your central heating controls. A good central heating programmer will turn your central heating system and hot water system separately as programmed. You can set it any way you like to suit your needs and lifestyle. A room thermostat or thermostatic radiator valve will automatically turn your radiator on and off once the former reaches the temperature you have set. A cylinder thermostat helps to prevent prolonged heating of water, thus saving on fuel.

Have your heating equipment checked regularly. Because of daily use, your heating equipment does have its share of daily wear and tear. The services of your heating engineer must be sought for proper maintenance or repair.

The efficient use of heating results in the efficient management of costs. By following the foregoing tips, you can live comfortably in the warmth of your home and the robustness of your pocket.

Tips and advice from your Bournemouth heating engineer for all your heating and plumbing needs at http://www.thebournemouthplumber.co.uk/

Article submitted Thursday, September 01, 2011 & read 11 times.

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