'Spend to save' on heating your home now and in the long run

What will happen to energy prices next? This is a question I’m being asked a lot and it’s one no expert can categorically answer. But what we do know is that we’re currently paying double what we used to for energy bills and that’s a huge jump in everyone’s budget. As spring warms up, a lot of consumers feel like they’ve made it through winter and can start thinking about turning the heating off and breathe a sigh of relief, but now is most definitely not a time to take our eye off the ball when it comes to heating costs. The government support offered via the £400 winter fuel payment, for which around £65 was automatically deducted from your monthly bill, has stopped and hasn’t been renewed, which means all our bills will rise. In fact, they’re expected to rise by £285, taking them up to £2,320 for the next 12 months from April – and that’s an average bill. If you use more energy than an ‘average’ home, your bills will be proportionately higher. We know heating will always cost and with that in mind, in the warmer months of spring and summer it’s worth thinking about how we can reduce gas use when autumn and winter come around again. There’s an adage when it comes to home heating and that’s ‘spend to save.’ It might sound counter intuitive but if you have the budget to spend a bit now, your bills will thank you for it immediately and for decades to come. Is your loft insulated? We lose a quarter of heat through the roofs of our homes if they’re not insulated. Log onto www.onehome.org.uk/lofts to find out about loft insulation and find out how you can keep the heat in rather than pay to heat the sky. Next, make sure your windows aren’t draughty and letting in cold air. Insulation tape doesn’t cost much at all and can make a big difference. Look at your doors too; draught excluders behind doors are a brilliant and cost- effective idea. Look on your local Facebook marketplace rather than buying new if you’re on a budget too. How often are you bleeding your radiators? It’s something we should be doing annually. Not every house has one but chimneys are a big heat loss mechanism. If you don’t use it, a chimney balloon can be used to stop the cold draughts. Radiator shelves can throw heat forward in a room rather than straight up and they can be bought for around £10 or £15. If your home doesn’t have curtains, get some and if it does, how thick and heavy are they? Simply closing the curtains when it’s dark keeps an awful lot of heat in a room and creates a cosy environment to relax in. We know that making some changes to your house over the summer months could save you a lot in the long run, so do what you can afford while it’s warmer so you save money next and every winter.