Easy Ways to Reduce your Home Heating Oil Bill

For many homeowners, the winter months bring concerns about how they are going to stay warm. For those of you who use heating oil, I have put together this article. In it, I quickly explain how you can keep your heating oil bills under control.

Get your order in before everyone else does

Unfortunately, my first tip is not one that you can use this year. However, it is certainly something that you can put into action for next winter. Whenever you can, buy your heating oil before the winter rush. Most home heating oil firms get very busy in the winter months, so offer good deals to those customers who order at other times of the year.

Look after your boiler

You need to get your boiler serviced on a regular basis to keep it working efficiently. An un-serviced oil boiler will always burn more fuel than one that has been properly maintained. It will also generate fewer harmful fumes, so having your boiler serviced on a regular basis is also important for your family’s health.

Insulate your home

Without good insulation, there is no way you can keep your heating oil bill in check. This is because most of the heat you generate will just leak away through the roof, windows, doors and walls.

It is important to realise that some parts of the home are leakier than others are. Understanding this will help you to target your efforts and prioritise insulating those areas where most of the heat is lost. Because around 25% of the heat that leaves a home does so through the roof, you need to insulate your loft space as a matter of urgency.

Stop the draughts

Filling in gaps around your doors and windows will also help to stop heat from leaking from your rooms. It is not difficult to do this using insulation tape and draught excluders. This video shows you an easy way to do this.

Turn down your thermostat

Ensuring that your thermostat is not set too high will also help you to keep your fuel bills under control. It is also important to check that it is still functioning properly. Turning your thermostat down by just one degree can make a huge difference to your overall fuel bill.

Sometimes the boiler also has a thermostat. Letting your service engineer check and adjust this thermostat can also help you to reduce your heating oil bill.

Shut the doors

Keeping the heat that you generate in the room that you want to heat is important. You need to get everyone into the habit of shutting the door behind him or her. There really is no point in heating the hallway or corridor.

None of the above tips is expensive or hard to implement. Yet, they will all save you money. That is cash you could potentially invest in buying energy saving devices like smart meters or thermostats. Technology that will help you to reduce your heating bills even more.

from Home My Heaven: Home Improvement Blog http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2017/03/reduce-home-heating-oil-bill.html