At this time of the year, the last thing you need is for your heating system to let you down. Nobody likes to be cold, not even for a few days.
Choose the right supplier.
It does not matter whether you heat your home using oil, gas, electric or wood you need to find a good supplier. You want someone reliable with a good reputation that will not let you down. For those who use heating oil, a firm like supersaveroil.com is ideal. They are well-established and, over the years, have evolved their service to suit the needs of modern consumers.
Naturally, you want to buy your power or fuel for a low price. Given the fact that the cost of providing your family with heat and hot water is so high, this is understandable. So, price definitely needs to be a consideration. However, it should not be your only one. For example, there is no point in paying 1p less per litre for your heating oil if it is full of particulates that can build up in your tank and damage your boiler.
Have your boiler professionally serviced
It is not an exaggeration to say that your boiler is the heart of your system. If it does not work efficiently you will use more power or fuel. Plus, potentially still not be able to generate enough heat to keep your home properly warm.
Not having your boiler serviced regularly is usually a false economy and potentially very dangerous. Plus, a sub-serviced boiler is far more likely to pump out fumes that at best can harm your health and at worst kill you. Not having your boiler properly serviced really is not worth the risk.
Keep the heat in your home
Making sure that your home is well insulated and, as much as possible, draught free is extremely important. Heat escapes from an un-insulated and draughty house far faster than necessary. The fact the hot air escapes faster means that your boiler has to work a lot harder to maintain your home at a reasonable temperature.
Insulating your home and blocking up as many gaps as possible really will save you a lot of money. If funds are limited start by adding more insulation to your loft, then move onto your walls. You typically lose 25% of heat through the roof and 35% through the walls.
Insulating a loft is easy and relatively cheap, which means it is the most affordable way to start the process of insulating your home. It has the added benefit of paying for itself within a few years. Insulating cavity walls is easy, but it is not cheap because you will need a professional to do it. So, it is harder for families to be able to afford to do this and not all cavity walls can be safely injected with insulating materials.
You can find out more about cavity wall insulation, as well as how to insulate solid walls from this article. Most of the methods outlined in that article are not hard to do yourself, which will greatly help to keep the cost down.
Disclosure – this is a collaborative post.