The Five Ultimate Tricks Energy Experts Use to Keep Heating Costs Low, Including How to HALF Your Bill

You may think you’ve tried every trick possible to keep your energy bills low and your home nice and warm as the temperature outside drops.

But even if you’ve already insulated the loft and stopped all drafts, there are still things you can do to make your home more energy efficient.

Money Mail speaks to practical experts, from gas engineers to builders, to give you practical advice you may not have considered.

Check your boiler pressure gauge

Dom Roque, CEO of Dom’s Heating and Plumbing, recommends some basic checks you can perform on your heating system to make sure it’s in good shape.

And an annual service carried out by a professional, which usually costs around £100, will be money well spent.

“An annual check helps detect problems, such as leaks and worn parts, before the boiler breaks down on Christmas Eve and requires an emergency call costing hundreds of pounds,” he says.

If you want to carry out some simple checks yourself, the first step is to look at your boiler’s pressure gauge, says Dom.

A modern pressurized boiler heating system typically reads between one and two bars when the boiler is on. If it is lower there may be a leak.

The meter is usually installed on the outside of the boiler, on the front of the unit: a circular dial about the size of a small stopwatch.

Watch this gauge and if it is between zero and one, put your ear close to the boiler without touching anything and see if you can hear a slight hiss, indicating steam or water escaping from the system.

If you can hear that then there may be a fault with a relief valve on the unit which needs to be replaced by a gas engineer.

Also listen for a hissing noise coming from the radiators to check for water or steam escaping.

If so, you may be able to fix it yourself. At the top of each radiator there should be a small valve with a square-shaped cock that can be tightened or loosened with a radiator wrench. They can be bought for around £2 from a hardware store. If there is a whistling sound, you can turn it clockwise until it stops and locks.

Don’t forget the hot water tank.

If you have a separate hot water tank in the ventilation closet, check to see if there is an expansion vessel connected that needs to be repressurized.

This is a metal cylinder the size of a balloon that is usually located on top of or next to the hot water tank.

It also acts as a relief valve. By containing air and water, it absorbs additional water when the tank and central heating system heats up and the water expands, and releases it again when it cools.

If it’s not working properly, it may be full of water, and the only way for the excess to escape is through an overflow pipe connected from the boiler to the outside of the house. You can identify the pipe outside your house to see if it is leaking.

Details of the pressure required for the expansion vessel should be clearly marked on the side of the unit. If you have a modern bicycle pump that includes a pressure gauge, you may be able to re-pump the container up to the required pressure level, but in most cases it is best to leave it to the professionals.

Do radiators have cold spots?

If your radiators are not heating up as usual and perhaps have cold spots near the bottom, this indicates that they may contain sludge. Once fixed, your heating bill could be cut in half.

It can be a messy job if you try to fix it yourself, so it’s best left to a qualified boiler expert who should have the necessary equipment to shock clean radiators. The equipment can be placed outside the house.

Dom says: ‘If your radiators are full of mud, it makes them half as efficient, like boiling a pot of fresh water compared to a clay one. The latter can double your heating bills.’

An occasional power flush to the radiator system by a plumber costs around £300, but Dom says it should pay for itself within a year.

He adds that air in radiators can cause rust, so bleed them every year. You may be able to do it yourself. If you are unsure, you can find practical guidance on YouTube.

Is there too much insulation in the attic?

Builder Mike Edwards, 68, who started out as a bricklayer’s apprentice more than half a century ago, fears too many homes fill any gaps in their loft with insulation, which is a costly mistake.

The co-founder of the DIY Doctor website says: ‘There’s a misconception that a loft packed with insulation keeps bills down, when the opposite could be true.

The roof space should be cool and drafty. Otherwise, hot air hitting the cold roof creates condensation that rots the wooden beams and the insulation becomes damp.’

Mike suggests that the insulation should be 270mm thick, but not too tight. If laid under attic boards there should also be a 50mm air gap between the insulation and the boards.

You should leave a gap of at least 25mm between the insulation and the eaves, the part of the roof that protrudes from the wall of a house. Around 25 per cent of heat is lost through an uninsulated roof, so if done correctly it will save you at least £300 a year.

Put a jacket in an immersion heater.

This cylinder in the airing closet is rarely understood or used efficiently to reduce energy bills, Dom believes.

He says: “Think of it as a giant teapot, with an electric heating element inside.”

It is not necessary to leave the immersion heater on all the time if you do not need hot water all day, as this can cost more money.

Turning it on just an hour before you need hot water is enough time to heat it up.

Dom says the cylinder should be well insulated – wrap it in a £20 sleeve and make sure all connected pipes are covered too.

This costs from £1 per meter of insulation and should cut at least £50 a year off your heating bill.

Find the instruction manual and make sure the settings provide warmth for the times you need it.

No need to leave it on when you are away for a day, perhaps at work, or on vacation.

toby.walne@dailymail.co.uk