In this second in a series of posts, we’re taking a look at heating controls and the Priority Services Register.
Stay in Control
If you’ve cut out your commute in the morning you may well be taking advantage by spending that little longer in bed. And you’ll be at home during the day when you wouldn’t have been before. And the clocks changed just last weekend as we say hello to spring! Chances are it’ll be a good time to review your heating controls, programmers and timers.
Quite simply, setting your controls effectively will save you energy and heat. That means reducing your carbon dioxide emissions and saving money on your heating bills. Turning your thermostat down just one degree could save 320kg of carbon and £80 from your bills every year.
You can set a schedule to ensure you’re only heating your home (and hot water) when you need to. Typically timers will be set for your heating system to turn on just before you wake up and just after you fall asleep, a pattern that may well have changed in recent days and weeks.
With heating controls you can also vary the temperature throughout your home rather than heating your whole home to the same temperature, ideal when you’re only using certain rooms and to avoid wasting energy and money to heat others.
By using a programmer, room thermostats and thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) you could save £80 and 330kg of carbon every year!
Ideally you’ll have a boiler thermostat, room thermostat, TRVs and a timer/programmer at your disposal to set an effective heating regime. But this will vary depending on the type and age of your heating system.
To find out more about the types of controls and timers, and how to set them, give your local Home Energy Scotland advisors a call on freephone 0808 808 2282 or email advice@ne.homeenergyscotland.org.
The Priority Services Register
The Priority Services Register (PSR) is a free service to help energy customers in need of further support. It’s designed for people who meet certain criteria…:
- pensionable age
- disabled or chronically sick
- long-term medical condition
- hearing or sight impairments or additional communication needs
… Or live in certain vulnerable situations, eg:
- certain mental health conditions which affect their understanding of energy bills
- cannot top up their pre-payment meter due to physical restrictions
- short-term circumstances where support is needed for a limited time
- living with children under the age of five
The register offers a range of features (subject to eligibility), including but not limited to: a nominee scheme, whereby customers have their suppliers to send communications to a nominated family member or carer; password protection, where a secure password must be used for a customer to identify representatives to ensure they’re genuine; and advanced notice of power cuts to help the customer plan accordingly should they have any medical needs that rely on a power supply.
You can find out more about how the Priority Services Register can help you and how to sign up for it by giving our Home Energy Scotland advisors a call on freephone 0808 808 2282 or emailing advice@ne.homeenergyscotland.org.
We’ll be back next week with more tips on saving energy while working from home!
Money and carbon savings figures from the Energy Saving Trust, Typical savings for a typical three-bedroom semi-detached home, heated by gas. Figures are based on fuel prices as of April 2019.
