With cooling temperatures and increased energy caps creating a nightmarish situation for millions of Brits, a heating specialist has revealed an easy hack to substantially cut down your energy bill
Balmy temperatures and clear blue skies are quickly turning into chilly evening and grey clouds.
An Arctic blast is slated to throw temperatures across the nation on a downward trend as we enter October, meaning those sunny days that have dragged out into this month will soon come to an end. The colder weather comes at a worrying time for cash-strapped Brits, coinciding with Ofgem’s latest energy price cap set at an average of £1,717 a year for a typical dual-fuel household paying by direct debit.
This works out as an average increase of 10 per cent per household, or £149 per year if the cap doesn’t go back down in January. Labour has already been warned over claims that a staggering 1.7 million households won’t be able to afford heating at all this winter, due to the controversial loss of their winter fuel payments.
As a result, heating specialist Jack Coles from MyBuilder.com has urged struggling Brits to make one cheap purchase to potentially save hundreds on their heating bills in the long run. The energy expert advises investing in a water cylinder jacket: a form of insulation that helps trap the heat inside your boiler’s water cylinder and prevent wastage.
“Making sure you have a hot water cylinder jacket will help you save money on your bills,” he added. “Without insulation your cylinder is effectively a huge radiator, dispersing the heat from within and using energy to keep reheating it. Many homes across the UK have uninsulated hot water tanks which allow heat to escape.”
It is said that installing a DIY jacket can actually reduce heat loss by ‘over 75 per cent’. The ace says based on recent energy prices, this works out at a saving of up to £200 every single year – depending on the size of your home and the location of your water cylinder. “Even if you already have a hot water cylinder jacket, you may want to check it is still in good working order and the correct thickness,” Jack expalined. “If it’s not, you should consider replacing it if it’s less than 75mm thick or doesn’t completely cover the tank all the way around.” Water cylinder jackets can be bought from a slew of hardware stores and online retailers such as Toolstation and Screwfix for as little as £20 depending on the thickness of material used. They should last for several years before needing to be replaced.
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