Help Centre

Help yourself for a comfortable home

Knowing how to best use your boiler and heating controls will give you a cosy home with hot water on tap, and save you precious energy and money at the same time.

Here are some energy bill-busting tips courtesy of the Sensible Heating Solutions team. We’re a helpful bunch.

Your room thermostat

These are really handy devices that make sure your heating system isn’t using more fuel than it needs to. Your thermostat will turn the heating on until the room reaches your pre-programmed room temperature and then switch off until the temperature drops below.

We advise you to set your thermostat to the lowest comfortable temperature, which is usually between 18°C and 21°C.

Sometimes, people will turn up the heating when it gets colder outside. Our advice is you really don’t need to. Your thermostat will heat your home to the set temperature whatever the weather, but it may take a little longer on colder days.

It’s also worth knowing that room thermostats must have a free flow of air to sense the temperature, so locate them away from curtains, furniture or heat sources.

Programmer or timer

A timer or programmer allows you to control when in the day your heating and hot water turns on and off.

This is useful if you have a routine and know when you wake up and go to bed and when no-one is at home.

Some models let you adjust the central heating and hot water independently of each other. And modern timers will typically give you the choice of setting a seven-day programme.

If your budget allows, it is worth checking out heating control systems that combine both the timer and the thermostat, allowing you to set different temperatures for different times of the day.

Smart heating controls

Our heating engineers can also help you install a smart thermostat. This is the newest type of heating controls on the market, connecting you to the internet so you can adjust your heating remotely.

This is a sensible solution for busy people who often need to change their plans. If you’re working late and no-one else is at home, for example, you can delay when the heating switches on. Nobody likes to heat an empty house.

Prices for smart heating controls vary widely, with the newest versions boasting a host of features, such as open window detection. In the long term, however, they will save you money if used properly.

If you can afford the up-front cost, smart heating controls can prove to be a very sound investment.

Thermostatic radiator valves

Another way to control the temperature in your home is to use thermostatic radiator valves. These enable you to control the temperature of your individual radiators, which comes in really handy if you want to save energy in rooms you‘re not using.

Of course, a lower setting on a radiator valve will use less energy so saving you a few quid.

Boiler thermostat

Most modern boilers have a dial or digital temperature setting. This regulates the temperature of the water pumped from the boiler through the radiators to heat your home. It’s another option for warming up your rooms when it gets a little colder.

This technique comes with a safety warning, however.

Beware if you have young children or elderly people in your home, because a high boiler thermostat setting will make your radiators very hot to touch.

Electric storage heaters

Electric storage heaters typically have two controls – an output control and an input control.

It’s very simple: set the output control according to how warm you want to be now. Turn it to zero before you leave your home or go to bed, and turn it up when you are too cold.

The input control will allow you to plan for how much heat you think you will need tomorrow. You may want to turn it up if it’s forecast to be colder the next day, or if your house hasn’t been warm enough.

Boiler service

Our friendly and experienced team of Gas Safe-certified heating engineers can save you money and energy with a boiler service programme.

Only three in 10 boilers serviced every year need a repair in their first six years, according to a Which? survey in 2021. This doubles to around six in 10 boilers when only serviced every two to five years.

At Sensible Heating Solutions, we provide both one-off services and boiler cover packages with annual services.

If you rely on the one-off service, you could save cash with a new and reliable boiler. But it’s a false economy if your boiler is old and on its last legs.

If you’re thinking long term, our boiler cover package gives you peace of mind and could extend the life of your machine.

Talk to us, and we’ll give an honest appraisal of the best option for you.