ENERGY SAVING MYTHBUSTERS

This is a very common myth. But in fact, you really don’t need to be heating your water all the time. Your immersion heater or boiler will heat up hot water which is stored in a tank. As long as the tank has a good insulating jacket, it will keep the water hot all day, without needing to be constantly reheated. You can use a timer to heat your water for an hour or two each day just before you would usually need hot water for baths or showers. Modern washing machines, dishwashers and electric showers take cold water and heat it themselves so you don’t need a supply of hot water waiting for them in the tank.

If you’re on Economy 7, make sure your electric immersion tank is coming on for a couple of hours in the night when you are getting electricity at a much cheaper, off-peak rate.

YOU SHOULD LEAVE THE HEATING ON ALL DAY, RATHER THAN TURNING IT ON AND OFF

Another common myth. Don’t pay for heat that you’re not using! If you are out during the day (or tucked up in bed at night), you don’t need the heating on. Even if you turn your thermostat down a bit, your boiler will keep firing up and using energy (and cost you money) at times when you won’t feel the benefit. Instead, programme your central heating using the timer so that it switches off when you’re out or in bed, and switches back on to warm up the house about half an hour before you get home or before you get up.

Turning The Thermostat Up Will Heat The House Up Faster

Myth. If you come home to a cold house, it’s tempting to whack the thermostat up in the hope that this will make the place warm up faster. Sadly it wont; your boiler works at the same constant speed regardless of whether you set your thermostat to 20C or 30C. In fact, you’re likely to find that later in the evening you’ll be sweltering – and wasting a lot of money – as your boiler doesn’t stop when the room is comfortable. Set the thermostat to a sensible room temperature, between 18-21C, and then leave it alone.

IF I TURN ALL THE RADIATORS DOWN LOW, I’LL SAVE MONEY

True. But only if you also turn your thermostat down at the same time. If you turn your radiators down low but still have the thermostat set to 21C, your boiler will keep running until the room temperature reaches 21C – and this will take a long time with the radiators on low. So if you want to save money and are comfortable with your house a little cooler, make sure you turn down the thermostat, not just the radiators.

The point of thermostatic radiator valves (the ones with numbers on that you can turn up and down) is to set different rooms to different temperatures, so that you’re not wasting money heating rooms you aren’t using.

And it’s not a good idea to turn a radiator off permanently in an unused room, as this can lead to damp and mould. Leave them on low instead, and close the doors.

IT’S CHEAPEST TO STAY IN ONE ROOM WITH AN ELECTRIC HEATER OR A GAS FIRE

Sometimes true. It might seem obvious that if you’re alone in the house and cold, you’re better off sitting next to a heater in one room than turning the central heating on. This can be untrue, depending on what type of heater you use. Electricity and bottled gas are both far more expensive per unit than mains gas. Electric fan heaters and portable gas fires are two of the biggest energy guzzlers, and if you have them on for a matter of hours then it may be cheaper just to turn on your central heating with the radiators on a low setting in the rooms you’re not using. However, oil filled radiators can be a good option for heating one room, particularly if you have a large property or your boiler is old, or you don’t have thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs). Here’s how much energy portable heaters use.

NIGHT STORAGE HEATERS ARE EXPENSIVE TO RUN AND/OR DON’T WORK

Potentially true if you don’t know how to use them properly. Lots of people have gripes with night storage heaters, but if you understand how to use the controls and you’re on the Economy 7 electricity tariff, they are the cheapest form of electric heating. If you don’t understand how the controls work then you can quickly run out of heat so it seems as if they aren’t working, or they can charge up with more heat than you need and become expensive to run. Read our simple guide here before you despair.

Myth. This old chestnut is almost completely untrue, and is probably causing lots of people to waste money on lighting. It doesn’t take any more electricity for a light bulb to turn itself back on. If it’s on, it’s using electricity, and if it’s off, it isn’t. Modern low-energy light bulbs do use a small amount

It Takes More Electricity To Turn Lights Off And On Again Than To Leave Them On Dishwashers Use A Lot Of Energy

of extra energy when you first turn them on, as do florescent strip lights. But with both of these, if you are leaving a room for more than a couple of minutes then turn the light off and you’ll save money.

Myth. Perhaps your gran believed this and insisted on washing up by hand instead so as not to waste electricity. But it’s not really true – in fact, if you do a full load and select a medium temperature on your dishwasher, it can use less energy than doing the washing up by hand. You need quite a lot of hot water to hand-wash the same number of plates. Many dishwashers have an economy setting which will use even less electricity and water.