Martin Lewis has revealed precisely when Britons should close their curtains as the nation braces for a cold snap, with temperatures forecast to plummet to -7C this week alongside widespread snowfall. And he said people could make a simple alteration to make them far better at keeping the cold out.
With energy bills remaining elevated, the money-saving guru has previously shared on his ITV programme simple methods households can employ to retain warmth indoors and potentially reduce heating usage. The financial expert discussed his energy-saving recommendations on his ITV show – and this month the Money Saving Expert website he established refreshed its guidance, confirming they remain applicable.
Mr Lewis explained that households need to utilise what’s available in their homes to prevent heat loss – and maximise solar gain. Curtains can deliver substantial benefits: “Next one, and it’s very obvious this one, but it’s worth saying, use tactical curtains. That’s my poncy way for saying, when the sun is shining, it’s letting light and heat into the house, so you want the curtains open.
“When it gets dark, it’s not, you want to keep the heat in, so close the curtains. I know we all know that, but actually doing it rigorously can help insulate, especially if you line it with a fleece and there’s lots of tips online on how to do that really cheaply, do it yourself. ” Mr Lewis proposed that households should undertake a ‘challenge’ with their boiler: “Now this is a big one. Take my 1 degree challenge. The World Health organisation says 18 degrees is fine for healthy adults, younger, older, or ill, you might need more. Who’s got their thermostat on at 18 degrees or less? I’d like you to try reducing 1 degree, say you’re at 21, try reducing to 20. That could save you around 10% on the heating bill.”
He also pointed out that homeowners sometimes make a costly error by increasing their heating beyond their desired temperature in an attempt to warm up their property more rapidly. Mr Lewis said: “This isn’t scientific. But if you think about it, if your heating only kicks in at 15 degrees, which it may well be, and you’re heating to 21, only heating to 20 is actually a significant saving.”
“Don’t think 0 to 20, think 15 to 20 to get it in your head. And another thing, I bet you do this, who, when it gets cold, turns the thermostat up in the house? Now look, your thermostat will get you up to the temperature you want. This is a panic reaction, it’s cold, I’m going to turn it up more. The thermostat dictates what the temperature is. Don’t turn it up, just wait for it to get to the heat, and then you won’t need to pay too much more.”
Mr Lewis explained that households need to adjust their ‘flow rate’. He said: “Now you’d normally want it to be around 60 degrees, but most people’s boilers are set higher. That’s really inefficient. It’s not just it’s using more heat, it’s inefficient. You can turn this down, it won’t affect the heat of your house, it’ll still be the same temperature. It won’t affect your hot water temperature, it might take slightly longer to get up to the maximum temperature.
“But it can cut £100 a year off your bill, and it is well worth everyone doing. I’ve got successes. Yeah, I have. This is from David, his boiler had a high temperature of 85 degrees. He now has a boiler flow temperature of 60, which works just as well and saves them money. This is an absolute no brainer. Everyone with a combi boiler should be trying this one.”
Regarding heating, Mr Lewis urged people to inspect their radiators throughout the home. He said: “I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist. Don’t be afraid to touch your knob. What I mean by this is we turn our central heating on, we haven’t checked our radiators. All the rooms are heating, even the ones you’re not using. If you’ve got rooms in your house, you’re lucky enough to to have rooms you don’t use, make sure the radiator’s turned off.
“But when you turn the central heating on the first time, you only want the radiators on in the rooms you’re using. We all know this, it’s not rocket science. We just don’t all do it.”
For more advice and a detailed guide on how to change the boiler, click here.
