Sun's out, heating off? For property owners, the struggle between keeping the cold out and the costs down finally eases off once the weather warms up, for a few months at least.
But exactly when to switch it off is just one of many heating-related issues that are up for debate in UK households, with new campaign, Your Perfect Match – from leading multi-tech heating manufacturer Worcester Bosch – highlighting the hot topics and offering up a useful tool to help find solutions, too.
SoGlos sits down with the firm's director of external affairs, Martyn Bridges, to find out what we should be doing with our heating systems during the summer, from managing controls and servicing, to how to keep your home at the right temperature.
What is Worcester Bosch’s Your Perfect Match campaign?
The purpose of our new campaign is to help the public be more engaged with their heating systems; and make the process of choosing the right heating system for their home much easier.
We partnered with much-loved husband and wife podcasters and television hosts – Chris and Rosie Ramsey – to front the campaign. There is also an online tool we’ve developed that helps match people with their perfect heating system – to ensure that when the heating is on, it efficiently and effectively warms the home.
Summer is almost here and the weather is finally warming up – why should homeowners be thinking about their heating system at this time of year?
It makes sense that when the weather is warmer outside, you automatically stop thinking about your heating system – only really turning it on when you want a quick blast of heat.
However, summer is a perfect time to get your boiler serviced. Although it isn’t mandatory to do so in privately owned homes, booking a boiler service once every 12 months gives you the best chance of spotting any faults before they become a breakdown. A leak or a wearing part are easy to fix, but left unchecked could mean your system won’t work when you need it most – as well as being more costly to fix.
The summer is normally the best time of year to get your heating system serviced. Firstly, engineers are far less busy in the warmer months because there are far fewer breakdowns. Naturally people need engineers less in summer, meaning appointments and spare parts are more readily available.
It also means you are ready for when it is time to turn the heating on. There is nothing worse than switching the heating on when you need it, to discover there is an issue. It could take time to get rectified, so being prepared by having a summer service should be essential.
What can homeowners do to ensure they’re using their heating system efficiently while the weather is warming up?
If you have a combi boiler – which most homeowners do – it is worth turning down the heating flow temperature on the boiler. The water temperature doesn’t need to be as hot when the outside temperature is warming up, so reducing this will make the boiler condense more and therefore be more efficient.
It is also important to keep your system clean to ensure your system is working at optimum efficiency. If your boiler has a system filter, this will be done automatically but if not you can book something called a system flush or a power flush.
This is where an engineer connects a pump to your central heating system, pushing special chemicals through the pipes, boiler and radiators. This removes any sludge, rust and limescale. It can take between 6 and 10 hours depending on how many radiators you have, the age of your system and how much debris there is. Again, another reason to sort out your heating system during the summer when you don’t need it!
For people out there who’re looking to upgrade their current heating system to something more modern and efficient, when’s the best time to do it?
It’s always best to update your heating system when you don’t need the heating on, as any changes would need the heating and any water from the system drained. It wouldn’t be a comfortable exercise in the winter as nobody wants to live in a cold house on a freezing January day.
A new heating system can last around 10 to 15 years, so it's important to find the right one to suit you and your lifestyle. Think about whether your house has space for a hot water cylinder, for example. Or how many bathrooms you have. Our Perfect Match tool is a great starting point to find the type of heating system you are looking for.
What else can people be doing to keep their homes at the right temperature during the spring and summer?
If your heating system has a full set of controls – a programmer, a room thermostat and thermostatic radiator valves – then your home will be kept at the right temperature automatically. If you don’t have a full set of controls, then the warmer months are the time to do it as they will pay for themselves fairly quickly with the energy savings they will achieve.
Also, we’ve spoken about heating, but it is just as important to keep your home cool, particularly as the summers keep getting hotter and hotter. Consider investing in an air conditioning unit – they bring a vast range of benefits, from the obvious (keeping your room cool) to the lesser known (ability to purify the air).
For more information about the Your Perfect Match campaign, visit worcester-bosch.co.uk/perfect-match.
