How to Save on Heating Costs in your Home
Inefficiencies in your plumbing system or heaters can
result in unnecessary costs. Keep bills down this winter and improve
your ‘Green Credentials' with the following tips:
Insulate your hot water cylinder
A 30 gallon cylinder
maintained at a temperature of 60 ° C (140 ° F) loses enough heat every
week to heat about 20 baths! Insulation by fitting a 3inch thick lagging
jacket on a hot water cylinder cuts down weekly heat
loss by about 70%.
Many modern cylinders are foam
lagged by the manufacturer. Never strip off part of a
cylinder lagging jacket to warm an airing cupboard – it is cheaper to
install a low powered heater in the cupboard.
Install a shower
A bath uses about 6 times as
much water as a shower. Keep costs down by showering for daily bathing
and use the bath as a treat for a relaxed soak.
Heat water only
as needed
Although a thermostat supplies
economical heating by controlling temperature, even a well-lagged
cylinder will lose heat. This can add up to considerable cost if the
heater is left on all the time.
You can gain significant
savings by rather switching your immersion heater or boiler on about an
hour before hot water is needed. The most convenient way to do this is
to have the heater fitted with a time switch
that is set to turn on at times of peak household use.
It is also a good idea to take
advantage of night rates for electricity
– details off peak meters and tariffs are available from your local
electricity board.
Prevent scale
formation in water pipes and appliances
About 65% of British homes
have hard or moderately hard water. This is caused by a high
concentration of dissolved calcium and magnesium salts, leaving a crust
when it dries that solidifies into scale at high temperatures.
When scale forms inside a
domestic boiler or hot water cylinder, it insulates the water from the
heat and wastes fuel. The pipes also gradually become blocked.
Scale can be prevented by:
- Controlling water
temperature – scale starts to form above 60 ° C (140 ° F)
- Suspend scale inhibiting
chemicals in crystal form in the cold water cistern (it will need to be
changed ever 6 months).
- Having a water softener
installed – no need to apply this to outside use
- Having a magnetic water
conditioner installed – the water passes through a magnetic field which
changes the structure of the scale forming salts, making them finer so
that they pass through the pipe rather than forming a cluster of scale.
This conditioner has a filter which will need cleaning about twice a
year.
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Science
may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for
the worst of them all -
the apathy of human beings -- Helen Keller
