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It’s 2015 and we’re about to see a reduction in our energy bills, but it’s still important that we try to reduce our bills as much as possible. The average household (two adults and two children) spends between £900 and £1200 a year. Clearly, this is money we’d rather not spend, but there are ways to reduce your bills. Here, we’re going to show you how you can reduce your energy bills and still be warm and cosy.

Insulation
There are two types of insulation: cavity wall insulation and loft insulation. Let’s look at each in turn:

1. Cavity wall insulation: you can only have this if you have cavity walls. Older properties tend not to have cavities, while newer builds do. The majority of builds post 1920s has cavity walls, and likely have insulation too. However, this insulation degrades over time. It’s worth having your walls looked at and adding more insulation if needed.

2. Loft insulation: most properties can benefit from loft insulation. The only exceptions are properties that are damp – you need to sort the damp problem before you have the loft insulation installed.

Both loft and wall insulation are offered free of charge from certain businesses, including the big 6 energy companies and the government. One of the big 6 offers free insulation for everyone – regardless of budget, whereas the rest only offer it free under certain conditions, namely, that you're on a low income.

If you can get it for free, take advantage of it while you still can. Cavity wall insulation will save an average of £90 (for a flat) to £275 (large house) per year, while loft insulation can save as much as £300 a year. That’s a fantastic saving. If you do have to pay for insulation, cavity wall insulation costs between £720 and £330; and loft insulation, around £300 for an average sized house.

Your Radiators

Next, you need to look at your radiators and see if they’re efficient or not. Here are a few things to bear in mind:

1. Column radiators and panel radiators are more efficient than vertical radiators. This is because they heat the room from the bottom up, and hot air rises, so less heat is lost through the ceiling, or it’s lost at a slower rate.

2. Column radiators are more efficient than another type of radiator. This is because they have a greater surface area and surface area has a direct relation to the amount of heat produced by the radiator.

3. Thermostatic radiator valves make radiators much more efficient and energy conserving. Here, they control the temperature of the radiator and maintain a steady room temperature turning the radiator off and on as required. This minimises the boiler’s energy output.

Regular Boiler Services
Finally, you should have your boiler serviced once a year. This is not as expensive as you might assume. People hear the word ‘service’ and they think about cars and how expensive they are, but boilers services are quite cheap. They cost around £100, but you can spread that cost out over the course of a year if needed.

If you would like to browse a collection of radiators, including column radiators, then please visit designerradiatorsdirect website.