Follow These 10 Tips and You Can Save a Lot on Heating!

You can save on heating and still keep the home pleasant if every room is only as warm as its use justifies, the warmth does not escape needlessly, and humidity and sunlight help the sense of warmth. We summarise the ten tips below based on a collection by tudasfaja.com, and add what changes if the house has electric surface heating instead of radiators.

The ten tips in brief

1. A different temperature in each room. 22 degrees may be justified in a child's room, while 18 degrees is enough in the bedroom: we rarely spend time there during the day, and at night it is better to sleep in a cooler room.
2. The kitchen gets by with less. Because of the heat of cooking and appliances and the moisture, we feel the kitchen to be warmer.
3. A jumper first, then the thermostat. According to the source, if we keep 20 degrees instead of the usual 24, this 4-degree difference can reduce consumption by as much as 24 per cent.
4. Leave the radiator free. Do not dry clothes on the heater and do not pile anything on it, because it obstructs the flow of warm air.
5. Suitable humidity. In more humid air we feel the same temperature as warmer. The source considers 40–60 per cent humidity ideal; an evaporator, a bowl of water next to the heater or a houseplant helps with that.
6. Curtains and shutters at night. A thick curtain drawn and a shutter lowered insulate the window; where there are no plants or pets, they can also be lowered for absences during the day.
7. Open curtains in sunshine. The sun shining in gives warmth, so in sunny rooms the heating can be turned down.
8. Short, strong ventilation. Open the window wide for 3–5 minutes twice a day and switch the heating off meanwhile: the air is exchanged but the walls and furniture do not cool through, unlike with a window left permanently ajar.
9. Doors adapted to the size of the home. In a small flat, with the internal doors open the temperature is more even, and the door of the room meant to be warmer can be closed. In a larger home it is worth heating separate parts separately, with closed doors.
10. The cat and the radiator. If a pet likes to lie on the heater, a small bed fixed next to it may solve the problem of it covering the radiator.

What changes if heating film does the heating?

The tips were written for a flat with radiators, but their essence – to heat only where, and as much as, is really needed – also holds for electric surface heating. In a few points, however, it is worth thinking differently:

• The temperature in each room is held by the thermostat. The first three tips are most conveniently implemented if every room has its own, time-programmable thermostat, so the bedroom can be set for the night and the child's room for the daytime.
• There is nothing to cover, but the floor must be left free. No clothes go on heating film built into the wall, ceiling or floor, but with underfloor heating a thick carpet or large furniture without legs obstructs the release of heat – we take this into account at the design stage.
• The sense of warmth returns quickly after ventilation. Radiant heating warms mainly the surfaces, not the air, so after a short ventilation the room soon becomes pleasant again – with a window left ajar, however, the heating works continuously.

Setting up thermostats is covered on our thermostat page, and the real electricity consumption of heating film on our consumption page. If the larger saving depends on the building, our article on thermal insulation will help, and if the question is whether it is worth turning the heating down when you are away, our piece How can we save? will. Our tips tailored to family houses are collected in the article on economical heating tips.