Efficient radiator performance

Energy costs are permanently increasing, be they for electricity, gas, coal or oil, so there is no cheap way to keep a house warm in cool weather. Given this fact, the best option available to bill payers it to get the most out of the energy that they do use and there are a number of ways of doing this.

The first is to look around for the cheapest tariffs, the most economic providers and any offers that may be available. Paying monthly by direct debit or standing order can often save costs, as can getting different types of energy (e.g. gas and electricity) from the same supplier. This can result in a bulk or multi fuel saving.

The other way to cut bills is to make the most of the energy that you do use, or to reduce that usage.

One way of doing this is to maximise the insulation that you have on all hot water pipes. Adding extra insulation prevents heat loss and gets the heat to the radiators where you want it to be.

How you treat your radiators can also impact upon energy cost and usage. As an example, radiator covers look nice, but they have a negative effect on how efficiently convection radiators distribute their emitted heat throughout a room. These covers look nice, but they prevent the free flow and movement of air which is not ideal. An easy solution can simply be to remove any covers on cold days, or try to find covers with the maximum amount of perforations in them.

Having independent thermostatic valves for each radiator makes it possible to control the temperature of any given room independently rather than having a general setting for an entire house. These valves are not too costly and they mean that you can turn the heat up, down of completely off in any area of the house. The cost of these thermostatic valves is normally returned in energy savings in 2 or 3 years.

For more tips on energy savings and ways to improve the performance of your radiators take a look at websites about plumbing where further suggestions may be included.

The other area to evaluate is the boiler or heat source that burns or circulates the heat. There are now many different types of boiler, e.g. condenser, combi etc and all have different advantages and disadvantages depending upon their intended usage and situation.