Gas and electricity bills for around 22 million households across Scotland and the rest of the UK will increase by £693 from April after Ofgem reviewed its cap on energy bills.
The upcoming rise of 54 per cent means the average household energy bill will soar to an eye-watering £1,971 per year and may go up even further in October, according to the latest analysis by Martin Lewis and his MoneySavingExpert.com team.
The price hike will undoubtedly put pressure on households, especially the vulnerable, those on lower incomes and the thousands of employees now working from home on a permanent or hybrid basis.
However, John Lawless, heating expert at BestHeating, has looked at some of the most common ones to help you save as much money as possible during cold spells of weather, without compromising on warmth.
Five common heating myths
You should turn the heating up when it’s cold outside - False
In a recent BestHeating poll, 42 per cent states they turn their thermostat up when it’s cold outside, but this isn’t needed as the thermostat is there to maintain the internal temperature, whatever the weather.
It also doesn’t help to turn the thermostat up to try and heat a room quicker as this only makes the room warmer at the same speed.
Doing either of these will cost you money without reward as it will not make a house feel warmer at all.
Pets prefer a warm house - False
More than a fifth of households set temperatures higher when they are not home and at night to look after their pets with 60 per cent believing their animals want this, but this isn’t actually true.
Large animals with thick coats tend to prefer temperatures low while only hairless small cats and dogs prefer a warmer feeling.
You should always provide your pet with a soft, warm bed, and open the curtains so the sun shines in, giving them a place to sunbathe.
It is cheaper to heat a house with an electric heater than a radiator – False
Central heating is a lot cheaper to run than an electric heater, for every unit of heat put out by an electric heater it will cost around three times as much as a unit of heat from one of your radiators. Obviously if you forget to turn off radiators in rooms you aren’t in then an electric heater will prove cheaper, but this isn’t being savvy with your bills.
Painting your radiators black can reduce energy bills – False
This is a common myth built on the idea that black absorbs heat quicker so will transfer heat out at a better rate than white or other coloured radiators. It's more important to insulate walls to prevent heat leaking out of your home altogether.
A good idea is to put reflective panels behind radiators, these will help cut energy use by reflecting heat from the radiator back into the room, preventing an escape through external walls.
It is better to have a big boiler than a small one - False
Two-fifths believe this to be true and the size of a boiler does matter but it must be in relation to the size of the house.
Having a massive boiler in a regular sized home will make you waste money on your bills. Make sure you understand how yours works as a recent BestHeating survey revealed that 62 per cent of Brits don’t know what the valves on a radiator or boiler do.
The amount of heat that you get from the boiler is determined by the size of your radiators, meaning that if you have a high output boiler but small radiators it is not going to have any effect. Finding a correct sized boiler that doesn’t work too hard and doesn’t have too much to give out is the most energy efficient and cheapest way.
John added: “Bills are rising sharply for many this winter and it is vital that those who follow misconceptions around heating know what they are doing wrong so that they can save as much money as possible and set the thermostat at the correct temperature.
“We hope that we have debunked many major myths for people across the country and provided a clearer indication of how to minimise the amount of energy used while protecting their radiator, bank account and most importantly their pets.”
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