How to Cut Heating Costs in a Home With a Boiler: Three Tips
Homeowners can lower heating costs by properly tuning their existing system rather than replacing the boiler. Key steps are adjusting water temperature, thermostat settings and how much each room is heated.
Heating costs weigh on many household budgets during the colder months, and the exact amounts are not known in advance. Unlike residents of apartment buildings, who have little influence over consumption, people living in private houses with a boiler can control it themselves. An article in the Latvian newspaper Latvijas Avīze, prepared from foreign press material, says savings can often be achieved by correctly adjusting the existing system instead of buying a new boiler or doing expensive repairs.
Do not heat the water more than needed
For a condensing boiler, an important setting is the temperature to which the water is heated before it reaches radiators or underfloor heating. The higher it is, the more energy is needed. Radiator systems usually use water at about 45–70 degrees, while floor, wall and ceiling heating usually needs 30–45 degrees. For a condensing boiler with radiators, 55–60 degrees can be tried as a starting point. In a poorly insulated house with small radiators, 60–70 degrees may be needed in cold weather, while a few degrees above zero outside may require less.
Combi boilers usually allow the hot tap water temperature to be set separately. About 60 degrees can be used in winter and 50–55 in summer. Seasonal adjustment may reduce consumption by a few percent, but the manufacturer's instructions and hot water hygiene requirements must be followed.
Thermostat and room heating
There is no need to keep the same temperature around the clock. If everyone is asleep at night or the home is empty for hours during the day, the temperature can be lowered, for example by 2 degrees at night. Heating can be programmed to begin raising the temperature about an hour before waking. Programmable or smart thermostats are convenient. A bedroom can be cooler than a living room, and heating in rarely used rooms can be reduced with thermostatic radiator valves.
Check the existing system first
Before replacing a boiler, the article advises bleeding radiators regularly, checking system pressure, servicing the boiler, not covering radiators with furniture or thick curtains, and making sure the system works evenly. A dirty or poorly adjusted boiler can use more gas; the material states that a neglected boiler may increase consumption by roughly 10–15 percent.
