HAVING your thermostat in the wrong place could be needlessly driving up your energy bills by hundreds of pounds.
The average household on the Ofgem price cap is forking out £1,738 a year on gas and electric, and prices are predicted to go up in April.
Having your thermostat in the wrong place could be driving up bills needlessly[/caption]
Should the price cap rise again this Spring, it will mean houses have been hit with three consecutive hikes since last October.
Luckily, there are ways you can drive down costs now, starting with putting your thermostat in the right place.
Thermostats work by detecting the warmth of a room, switching on when the temperature drops below a certain amount.
But have yours in the wrong room or part of your property and it will get an inaccurate reading and could turn on when you don’t need it to.
Ben Gallizzi, energy expert at Uswitch.com, said: “Deciding where to place your thermostat is important because it can affect how well your heating works.
“Placing it in a room that is colder than the rest of the house, such as a hallway, is a bad idea as it will turn on and off at the wrong times.
“For example, if you open the front door and let in cold air, then the thermostat may tell your heating system to send out more heat as it thinks the whole house is below your desired temperature.”
It’s not just your hallway you’ll want to avoid having your thermostat in – avoid warm spots at all costs too so you can keep toasty.
Ben added: “Having a thermostat near to a radiator, window or in direct sunlight will also skew the readings.
“These spots are warmer, so the thermostat may switch off before the whole space has been heated to the target temperature.”
Where should you actually put it though? The room that you use the most, most likely your living room, Ben explained.
“This is where it’s easiest to control the temperature, and in an area of good airflow.”
It’s not just the location of the thermostat that’s key if you want to lower your energy bills either.
Having it at the right temperature could save you an extra couple of hundreds of pounds.
Ben explained: “The Energy Saving Trust recommends heating your home to between 18 to 21 degrees Celsius during winter.
“Turning down your thermostat by just one degree can reduce your energy bill by up to 10%.”
How else to save money on energy bills
Turning down the flow temperature of your boiler could save you around £325 a year.
Ian Palmer-Smith, supplier and heating service director at Domestic & General, told The Sun many combi boilers come with this temperature set wrong.
The boiler heating flow temperature should be about 70 degrees and the water side flow temperature roughly 60.
Dial them down in seconds and watch your energy bills drop.
Putting furniture like sofas in front of radiators will drive up your energy bills too.
Instead, make sure any upholstery is a few centimetres away so any hot air can flow freely throughout the room.
You could try using reflective foil on your radiators too.
These sheets reflects heat back into the room and limit the amount that can escape outside.
What is happening with energy bills?
Around 26million households on Ofgem‘s price cap have seen their energy bills rise in recent months.
The price cap, which changes every three months, affects those on standard variable tariffs (SVTs) but not if you’re on a fixed deal.
The current cap means the average household on a dual-fuel tariff is paying £1,738 a year for their gas and electricity.
You may be paying more or less than this based on your usage as the cap just sets a limit on what energy suppliers can charge per unit of gas and electricity.
Cornwall Insight, which is usually accurate in its predictions, has forecast the price cap to go up to £1,823 a year from April.
Dr Craig Lowrey, principal consultant at Cornwall Insight, said it is predicting the cap to rise due to the cost of wholesale gas in Europe spiking.
Ofgem will officially announce the price cap for April to June by February 25.
Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme – Sun Club.
