LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM — (Marketwire) — 10/14/11 — As we reach the end of a rather wet and miserable British summer, it–s time to start preparing for the winter months and even colder weather. As soon as temperatures start to plunge, we inevitably look to our central heating systems to keep us warm and comfortable. Yet with pipes, radiators and boilers lying dormant for months, there–s a chance that your system won–t be running at 100% efficiency or may fail to work at all. Protect yourself from the cold and unnecessarily high heating bills this winter by taking a few simple steps ahead of the annual central heating switch-on.
Book a service
It–s important to service your boiler and all gas appliances at least once a year to ensure they–re working correctly and not leaking any poisonous carbon monoxide gas. Unfortunately many homeowners wait until their systems fail to book a service and are left in the cold as they struggle to find an available engineer during the busy winter period. With the high costs of last minute repairs, it–s also no surprise to discover that Brits ended up paying GBP 450 million on boiler repairs alone in 2010.
A simple way to protect yourself from unexpected repair bills is to purchase . Most comprehensive policies should include an annual central heating service, during which the engineer should also be any test for any carbon monoxide leakage.
Bleed radiators
One of the quickest ways to improve the efficiency of your central heating system is to bleed your radiators. If your radiators are cool, or cold at the top and warm at the bottom, you need to release trapped air to let hot water flow easily.
All radiators should come with a small tool called a bleed tool, which can be used to open the small valve to the side of the radiator. Open the valve just a small amount to release any trapped air whilst not allowing the water to flow out; keep a towel to hand in case any water does escape. Check your manual to see if you have a sealed central heating system, in which case you–ll also need to reduce the overall pressure of the entire system then top up afterwards from the main cold water feed.
Take your heating under control
With gas prices expected to remain high, it–s vital to keep your energy use as low as possible during the winter months. Fine-tuning your central heating is an easy way to keep your individual rooms at a comfortable temperature without wasting any energy and could save you an average of 15% on your heating bill.
Check your thermostat is between 18 degrees C and 21 degrees C, lowering it on warmer days; running your central heating system at just 1 degrees C lower could save you around GBP 40 over a year. Use a programmer to control when the heating and hot water are activated, planning around your own schedule to ensure you–re only using energy when actually needed. Thermostatic radiator valves are also an intelligent way to save energy. They monitor the air temperature around them to regulate the flow of hot water entering the radiator and maintain a constant temperature in the room.
Contacts:
British Gas
Press Office
0800 107 7015