A new step-by-step online tool to help guide people to make one simple change to their boiler that could save them as much as £112 on their bills has been welcomed by Martin Whitfield MSP.
The South Scotland MSP is supporting the campaign to help consumers quickly and easily turn down their combination boiler flow temperature. The campaign is run by the UK’s innovation agency Nesta in partnership with Which?, Energy UK, EDF, E.ON Next and Octopus Energy.
Many people do not know they can save money by reducing their boiler’s flow temperature. According to ONS data, only 1 in 10 people had lowered their flow temperature in the last year, compared to 6 in 10 who had lowered their thermostat.
Nesta’s research found reducing a combination boiler’s flow temperature saves more money than many other free measures including fitting a smart thermostat – which saves a typical household £64 per year – as well as better known free measures, such as closing curtains at night (saving £10 per year) and placing foil behind the back of radiators (saving £3-11 per year).
Martin Whitfield MSP said:
“The pressure of rising energy bills hasn’t gone away and I know many people remain worried about how they will afford these sky-high costs this winter.
“I welcome the Money Saving Boiler Campaign to help put around £112 back in people’s pockets. This includes a new tool to provide step by step guidance anyone can use to make tweaks to their boiler to make it more efficient.”
Katy King, Deputy Director of Sustainable Future at Nesta, said:
“High energy bills are biting around the country and we are keenly aware that despite welcome Government intervention many people still need every bit of help keeping their costs down.
“We have found people can save £112 a year just by making one change to their combination boiler to make it more efficient and have developed a tool to guide anyone through this step by step. This is a bigger saving than many better-known energy saving tips and even people already doing all they can to bring their bills down may be able to benefit from it.”
Most people are already planning on taking some steps to energy money on their energy bills this winter. Two thirds of people (67%) polled by the Behavioural Insights Team for Nesta said they would wear warm clothes instead of turning on the heating in their homes this winter, more than half (57%) said they would keep the heating on for fewer hours and 46% said they would lower the thermostat. More than half (51%) also said they would close curtains while 12% said they would put foil or reflectors behind radiators.
The online tool to reduce boiler flow temperature can be found at: https://moneysavingboilerchallenge.com/