'Will turning my boiler down save money?' Heating questions worth asking before winter

'Will turning my boiler down save money?' Heating questions worth asking before winter Is heating cheaper at night, should you leave it on low, and can you cut bills without making your home colder? Every autumn, the heating debate begins. Someone insists it is cheaper to leave it on all day. Someone else says you should wait until November before touching the thermostat. Meanwhile, you are looking at the boiler and wondering whether changing one setting could make a difference to your bills. The most useful starting point? Know which control you are changing. Turning down your room thermostat and turning down your boiler’s heating flow temperature do different jobs. One asks for a cooler home; the other can help your boiler heat your home more efficiently. Is there actually a cheaper time to run the heating? For most people with gas central heating, there is no special overnight gas discount. Check your tariff, but moving your heating to midnight will not usually make each unit of gas cheaper. Electric heating can be different. Economy 7 and other time-of-use tariffs charge different electricity prices at different times. Storage heaters are designed to take advantage of cheaper periods by storing heat for later. The crucial detail is which fuel provides your warmth. Having cheaper electricity overnight does not make the gas burned by your boiler cheaper. My advice: check the prices per kilowatt hour, shown as kWh, on your bill. If you have electric heating, ask your supplier to confirm your off-peak hours rather than relying on a timetable you found online. With gas heating, focus on when you need warmth rather than chasing a supposed cheap hour. Is it dangerous not to turn the heating on? Leaving it off while your home remains comfortably warm is very different from spending days in a cold house because you are worried about the bill. The NHS advises heating regularly used rooms, including your living room and bedroom, to at least 18°C if you can. This is particularly important if you have a health condition. Older people and young children are among those more vulnerable to cold. Extra clothes and a heated throw can help you feel comfortable, but being warm under a blanket does not tell you whether the room itself is adequately heated. My advice: use a room thermometer rather than a calendar rule. There is no prize for holding out until November, and some people need more warmth than others. If cost is making you reluctant to switch the heating on, ask your supplier about an affordable payment arrangement and whether you qualify for support with outstanding energy bills. Explain any health conditions in your household so it understands why adequate warmth matters. Will turning my boiler down save money without making the house colder? It can, depending on your boiler and its current settings. Your room thermostat sets the indoor temperature you want. Your boiler’s heating flow temperature sets how hot the water becomes before it travels to the radiators. Lowering that flow temperature can help a condensing boiler work more efficiently while still allowing your home to reach the temperature you want. The trade-off is that rooms may take longer to warm up. For a combi boiler with separate heating and hot-water controls, Citizens Advice suggests trying a radiator flow temperature of 60°C. Check your manual first and monitor whether your home still gets warm enough. If it does not, increase the setting again. My advice: photograph the original setting before adjusting it. Then judge the result by room temperature and comfort. A radiator that feels less fiercely hot is not automatically doing a worse job. Can I turn down the hot-water setting too? This is where blanket advice can become misleading. If you have a separate hot-water cylinder, your boiler may use one flow-temperature setting for both the radiators and the stored hot water. Energy Saving Trust advises keeping that boiler setting at least 65°C so it can heat the cylinder to 60°C. Stored hot water needs appropriate temperature control to prevent harmful bacteria growing. A combi boiler, which heats water on demand, works differently. My advice: identify your heating system before changing anything. If you are unsure which control does what, ask a qualified heating engineer. Heat-pump owners should follow their installer’s instructions, including the hot-water hygiene programme. Is it cheaper to leave the heating on low all day? For boiler central heating, maintaining warmth all day generally uses more energy than scheduling heating for when it is needed. Heat keeps escaping through the building while you maintain the indoor temperature. Heat pumps are different. They often operate more efficiently with longer, steadier running, so advice about switching a gas boiler on and off should not simply be applied to them. My advice: match the schedule to your system and your household. Someone working from home needs a different routine from someone who is out all day. Any savings plan must also allow adequate warmth for people vulnerable to cold. If you spend most of the day in one room, it is also worth comparing the cost of a portable heater with your central heating. Heating a smaller space can save money, but running an electric heater for hours is not automatically the cheaper option. Why is my boiler still running after I turn the radiators down? Your heating controls may be working against each other. Suppose the main thermostat wants the room to reach 21°C, but the radiator valve in that room is set too low to let it get there. The thermostat can continue calling for heat because its target has not been reached. My advice: check the radiator in the room containing your main thermostat. Follow your system’s instructions so the valve allows that room to reach its target. Use the other radiator valves to reduce warmth in rooms that need less heating. And resist turning an ordinary room thermostat far above your desired temperature to “speed things up”. It will not normally warm the house faster and can leave the heating running longer than you intended. I am using less heating, so why has my Direct Debit gone up? Your monthly payment and the cost of the energy you actually use are different things. A fixed Direct Debit spreads expected costs across the year and may also include repayments towards an existing debt. Before assuming you need to make the house colder, check what is behind the proposed payment increase. Look at the meter readings, tariff rates, annual usage forecast and any arrears being collected. My advice: ask your supplier to separate the cost of your current energy use from debt repayments. Check whether the bill uses actual or estimated readings, even if you have a smart meter. Should I ask for my energy account credit back before winter? You can request a refund, but first check that the balance reflects your latest bill and accurate meter readings. Credit built up during summer may help cover higher winter usage. That does not mean you should accept an unexplained balance: ask your supplier how much it expects you to need and how it reached that figure. My advice: consider whether a partial energy credit refund would suit your winter budget . Getting some money returned while retaining a cushion may be more useful than treating it as an all-or-nothing decision. Should I close every vent to keep the warmth in? No. There is a difference between sealing an unwanted draught and blocking ventilation your home needs. Moisture can condense on cold surfaces, and inadequate ventilation can contribute to damp and mould. Keep required vents clear and use extractor fans as intended. Persistent mould can also point to leaks, poor insulation or building defects. If you rent, report it to your landlord. It should not simply be dismissed as a failure to turn the heating up. My advice: change one heating setting at a time and check whether you remain comfortable. When comparing energy use, consider the weather too. A lower reading on a much milder day does not prove your new setting caused the saving. You do not need to become a heating engineer to make better decisions. But understanding your tariff, your heating system and those different temperature controls gives you a much stronger starting point. - This article provides general information, not individual medical or heating-system advice. Follow manufacturer instructions and use a suitably qualified engineer for work on your system.