The nights are drawing in and winter is officially on its way. All over the country, boilers are kicking in and thermostats are hard at work keeping the chill off our homes. Whether you’re a “17? and jumpers” kind of family, or a “22? and t-shirts” household, central heating plays a key role in making the cold British months more comfortable.
When it comes to heating, we all know that there’s a price to pay. Energy bills can increase twofold during winter - an unhappy additional cost in the leadup to Christmas. If you want to save money on heating, there are a few things to consider. First is the small picture: Only use heat when you need to. Don’t heat rooms you’re not using. These are some of the small steps you can take to keep costs down, but they’re not addressing the bigger picture.
If you’re using an inefficient heating system, no number of small steps is going to make a significant difference to your energy bill. Instead, you need to find out the most cost-effective way to heat your home? That’s where we come in.
Many people mistakenly believe that air conditioning units are an expensive way to heat the home. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The average cost to run a ducted air source heat pump in your home is 4.26p per kWh, around 69% cheaper than electric storage heaters.* Add to this the method that the heat is dispersed by a unit, blowing it into the centre of the room instead of radiating from a wall, and the benefits of heating your home by a ducted system soon begin to show.
If you have gas, this is even more relevant. With a growing focus on renewable energy, the coming years are sure to see a decline in the use of gas in homes. People are already moving away from gas cooking to the more efficient induction method, and gas heating will follow. The cost per m3 of gas is expected to steadily increase over the next few years, so there’s never been a better time to jump from the sinking ship.
*Cost of fuels sourced from Energy Saving Trust, correct as of March 2018
For a typical three-bedroom home, we’d recommend a ducted system with multiple outlets. This requires one outdoor unit, an indoor unit which is usually located within the loft, and multiple ducts connected to various zones in the house below. The cost for this system starts from £6000.
In a similar vein to solar panels, after the initial installation costs, the unit begins paying for itself in the money saved from your heating bill.
Here’s what you could expect to save:
£350 - £560 per year if replacing an oil heating system.
£1,900 per year if replacing an LPG fired heating system.
£700 - £1,300 if replacing an electric night storage heating system.
It couldn’t be clearer. The most cost-effective way to heat your home, both now, and taking into account the changes to utility prices expected in the future, is with an AC unit.
Ready to make the switch? Get in touch to discuss your requirements with one of our HVAC experts on 020 3198 1101 today and we will guide you to finding the system that best suits your needs.
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