We’ve been told to prepare for a cold winter. In fact, temperatures are expected to drop to -7°C next week as we head into December. But while customers typically wouldn’t think twice about keeping their homes warm in winter, the recent rise in gas and electricity prices may discourage them from using central heating and other heating appliances, leading to expensive gas and electricity bills. Despite the spike in gas and electricity prices, there are a few tricks customers can use to stay warm without breaking the bank.
Give your customers peace of mind and share our energy-saving tips with them via your website, social media platforms or your newsletter.
Set your heating to a lower temperature
- Customers trying to save energy and money will probably be most concerned about their heating bills. One of the easiest ways to save energy in a home is to lower the temperature of the central heating system. Simply turning down the central heating by 1°C can save energy and reduce the cost of customers’ heating bills by up to 10%, or £80 a year. The best part about this tip is that customers will hardly notice the difference in temperature if they turn their heating down a notch.
Don’t heat up every room.
- It’s expensive to heat a whole house, and it’s a waste if your customers are only using one or two rooms. We suggest they only heat the rooms they’re using instead of every room in the house. Another solution to save energy is to use a central heating timer to set the heating to switch off just after you’ve gone to bed and to switch on just before you wake up or get home. It’s a myth that it costs more to reheat a home than constantly keep the heat on.
Service your boiler
- If a boiler isn’t working efficiently, it’ll use more energy but produce less heat. Encourage your customers to have their boiler serviced if they’ve noticed that their heating bill has increased dramatically, there are unusual sounds coming from the boiler, or the boiler is older than 10 years.
Close your curtains
- Around 35% of heat escapes via walls and cracks in and around windows and doors in homes. One way to prevent this is to close your curtains, especially in the evening when it’s cold and customers most likely have their heating turned on. Customers could also invest in thermal curtains to keep their homes warm and reduce the strain on their central heating system. Thermal curtains can cut heat loss from windows by up to 25%, making them a great energy-saving investment.
Bleed your radiators
- Energy is wasted when radiators are full of air, as the radiator can’t efficiently draw heat from the water to heat the home. Customers will know that this has happened if the radiator isn’t heating up, it’s heating up unevenly, or it’s making a bubbling noise. Advise your customers to bleed their radiator if this happens. Share information with them on how to do this, or offer the service to them if they’d rather get a professional to do the job.
Power flush your central heating system.
- If your customers have noticed that their radiators are cold at the bottom, or the boiler gives out every now and again, their central heating system may need a power flush. A power flush could potentially decrease energy bills by 25%, and it improves the energy efficiency of the system. As power flushing is a process that should always be done by a professional, let your customers know you can assist them with this service in preparation for winter.
We’re heading for a cold winter, so make sure you’re ready for the busy season. Stay on top of your job scheduling, invoices and your mobile workers with Job Management Software.
