Is your home ready for the cold weather?

Most of us rely on our boilers to ensure we have constant heating and hot water at home, so the last thing you need when the colder weather hits is for your boiler to break down.

Older boilers are less efficient and therefore more likely to break down and leave you in the cold, so it’s a good idea to check the efficiency of your boiler and consider upgrading to a more energy efficient one if you need to.

As a guide, an inefficient boiler is old, generally installed before 2005, and it’ll have a metal or ceramic flue (exhaust pipe), whereas energy efficient, A-rated boilers have a plastic flue.

E.ON offers a range of boilers which are 94% efficient and come with a range of flexible payment options, so you can spread the cost into manageable monthly payments (E.ON are a credit broker and not a lender)¹. Or if you’re eligible under the Affordable Warmth Scheme, you could even get a new gas boiler from £395².

By upgrading your boiler you’ll not only have peace of mind with a guarantee of up to 10 years, you could save £205 a year by switching to a more efficient boiler too³.

If rooms aren’t heating up or if radiators feel cold at the top and hot at the bottom, it could be a sign that there’s air in your central heating system and your radiators need bleeding to let it escape. By doing this, you’ll help your heating system work as efficiently as possible.

It’s a simple job that you can do yourself without the need for a professional. Make sure you turn off your central heating first. Then, using a radiator key and an old cloth to catch any water, turn the radiator valve slowly – you should hear the air escaping. When the air stops and water runs clear, re-tighten the valve and restart your central heating.

If your radiators are still cold at the top, it may be a sign there’s a wider issue, so it would be a good idea to get a Gas Safe engineer out to check the problem further.

Just like us, your pipes aren’t a fan of being cold and in extreme temperatures could freeze and prevent your heating from working properly. 

Consider insulating your pipes to protect them from the cold weather.  You can buy insulating materials at DIY stores and wrap them up yourselves.

If you find your boiler isn’t working properly due to frozen pipes, there’s no need to worry, you can easily defrost a frozen pipe yourself. If the pipe is outside simply pour warm (not hot) water on it to defrost it. If it’s inside, wrap the pipe in a hot water bottle. Once the pipe is defrosted then simply reset your boiler. You should then have a working boiler once again.

Make sure to fill gaps around windows, doors, pipes, loft hatches and even keyholes and letterboxes with draught-proofing supplies from local DIY stores to help keep heat inside.

The ideal temperature you should set your thermostat to is between 18^oC and 21^oC, however if you have rooms in your house that aren’t often used, then make sure you keep the heating lower in these rooms. You should keep radiators on at least at the minimum low setting though to ensure your system runs properly and rooms don’t get damp.

Consider investing in a smart thermostat and smart radiator thermostats, such as Bosch EasyControl which allows you to control your heating with your smart phone, from wherever you are so you can ensure your rooms are heated to the right temperature when you need them. Systems like this also come with a frost protection setting to help make sure pipes don’t freeze when the temperature drops.

By installing a smart meter and using your smart in-home display to track your energy use in real time, you can easily see when and where you’re using energy around your home. This will help you to understand where you can make some easy changes to help lower your energy use and keep energy costs as low as possible over the winter months.

E.ON offers a range of smart solutions to help keep your home heated efficiently whatever the weather. And we supply all our customers’ homes with 100% renewable electricity⁴ to give you extra peace of mind that energy you are using during the cold weather is from a renewable source.

^{1.      E.ON Energy Installation Services Limited acts as a credit broker not a lender and work exclusively with Creation Consumer Finance Limited who acts as the lender. Credit subject to status, terms and conditions apply and can be found at eonenergy.com/terms-and-conditions/eon-installation, E.ON reserves the right to amend its finance offering at any time and may withdraw at short notice. E.ON UK plc is an Introducer Appointed Representative of E.ON Energy Installation Services Limited who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to credit broking services under number 750410. Registered in England and Wales under company number 09965944 with its registered office at Westwood Way, Westwood Business Park, Coventry, CV4 8LG.}

^{2.      Whoever applies – and qualifies – will only need to pay £395 towards the standard replacement of the gas boiler if theirs is broken or faulty. E.ON Energy Solutions Limited will pay the remainder as part of the Government scheme called Affordable Warmth. There may be additional extras or further work required alongside replacement of the boiler, for which the customer will need to cover the cost. The assessor will let the customer know how much this will be on completion of the free home survey, and it’s then completely up to the customer if they want to proceed to installation. This offer is available through the Affordable Warmth Scheme and is subject to eligibility and a free home survey. See our eligibility criteria. Not eligible for private tenants.}

^{3.      Savings information for boilers in the UK provided by the Energy Saving Trust, based on a semi-detached house with a boiler rating of G.}

^{4.      Electricity backed by 100% renewable sources. All our customers' homes and eligible businesses get 100% renewable electricity, at no extra cost. Eligible businesses are SME customers that sign a contract directly with E.ON. Electricity sourced from E.ON’s renewable generation assets, supply agreements with independent UK wind generators and the purchase of renewable electricity certificates. The electricity supplied to homes and businesses comes from the National Grid and DNOs. eonenergy.com/renewable}