How to save on heating costs?
Winter is the time to take the right steps to minimize your energy expenses. Simple gestures can optimize your energy consumption and reduce your gas and electricity bills.
Studapart has chosen 10 tips to follow and small investments to make so you can enjoy a warm winter while lowering your heating bills.
How to reduce your heating bill? 10 tips for saving money
Good maintenance of the boiler
The first reflex to adopt to save energy is to ensure the good maintenance of your boiler. It is recommended to check it every year or every two years for gas boilers. This avoids overconsumption and breakdowns in the middle of winter.
Installing a programmable thermostat
The second tip to save on heating consumption is to install a programmable thermostat. The thermostat ensures a pleasant and low-consumption temperature. The programmable option avoids manually adjusting the thermostat and minimizes manipulations. The thermostat can be different in each room.
Maintaining radiators
Good maintenance of radiators promotes energy savings and heating savings. Radiators must be purged and cleaned before winter. In order to ensure good heat diffusion, it is also necessary to clear the radiator areas.
Responsible management of heating
Good management of heating is the first way to reduce heating consumption. By adjusting the thermostat and the thermostatic valves, it is possible to adjust the temperature of the rooms as well as the start and end of the operation of the heating system. This entire heating system allows for responsible energy consumption.
Avoiding draughts
If it is important to regularly ventilate your home, you need to be careful of small draughts in the home. These draughts increase heating consumption and thus the weight of energy bills.
Good insulation is the best way to deal with draughts.
Ensuring good insulation of the apartment
Heating up a poorly insulated property is a waste of energy. It is necessary to check regularly that your home is well insulated. This concerns the areas around windows and doors but also walls and floor which can also let in air and humidity.
Carrying out energy renovation work to avoid overconsumption of energy
In cases where an inspection of windows, radiators, boiler concludes with poor functioning of the entire heating system, it is necessary to consider carrying out some energy renovation work. This makes it possible to minimize over consumption as well as breakdowns in mid winter. Replacing a boiler or insulating the home are recommended works for making easy energy savings.
Regularly ventilating your home
It is important to ensure good insulation of your home in order to avoid “energy sieves”, i.e. dwellings whose heat escapes directly outside due to poor insulation. On the other hand, it is recommended to ventilate inside daily for 10 minutes for dry air which is easier to heat up and therefore requires less consumption than humid air.
Furniture placement
Furniture placement is an often forgotten tip. By arranging the interior strategically, the circulation of heat from radiators will be maximized. It is possible to install insulated curtains on windows and also door bottoms strips at doors in order to keep room warmth.
Changing energy contracts
Finally, a tip that can often be forgotten is the energy contract. It can sometimes be interesting to compare offers from gas and electricity providers’ energy contracts. Different contracts correspond more or less with a type of consumption and prices vary!
Get free installation help and great deals with our partner Papernest. As a plus, you will receive over €1,000 in vouchers to help you move into your new home with complete peace of mind when you book with Studapart!
Assistance for Saving on Heating Costs
Heating typically represents the majority of a household's energy spending over the course of a year, even if it is not in use during all months. There are several types of assistance available to help households finance their energy expenditures and reduce their bills.
For example, the ‘energy voucher’ is a scheme set up to help consumers pay their energy bills. Eligibility for this grant is based on family income and composition. Find the article about the energy voucher in our 'tip' section.
There are also various grants available to finance energy efficient renovations which can lead to further long-term savings on energy bills. Assistance with heating system improvements is offered by organizations such as ANAH, ADEME, Eco PTZ and ADIL.
These grants can both cover current bills and finance renovations that will ultimately result in significant savings on your home’s energy consumption.