Home Improvement

How to keep control of your gas bills

Winter of discontent! Where have we heard that before? Well, its not just motorists and businesses that suffer as a result of rising oil price. Higher fuel costs are also passed on to households in the form of rising electricity and gas bills. Gas suppliers have increased their prices substantially, even those who had earlier promised that they wouldn't be doing so. They say they have been left no option because of the huge rise in fuel prices.

However, there are ways for people to keep control of their gas bills. Below is a list of precautionary measures people can take:

Use less gas on relatively warmer days

Of course, the temperature varies from day to day, sometimes substantially. When the temperature is not very low, it might be wise not to use the heating too much, by keeping the temperature of the boiler as low as it comfortably can be. Also, it is advisable to heat the home once in the morning and again in the evening rather than randomly turning on and off.

Keep doors closed

Keeping doors closed will heat the rooms up a lot quicker than if they are left open and keep the heat in the room for much longer.

Drafts

You would be surprised as to how much heat is lost and cold air let in through windows and doors from poor weather stripping. It is best to seal any gaps on windows and doors.

Ventilation

The vents throughout the home (usually found in the kitchen and bathrooms) can let a substantial amount of cold air through them. Open them only when you absolutely need to. If you want to remove bad odour then use an air freshener or neutraliser rather than leaving the vents open. However, if you need to remove cooking moisture from the kitchen then you are advised to open it up for a while to let it out. If you have a kitchen hood then you will have probably used that, in which case there should not be much moisture.

Using less hot water

You can save substantially by using less hot water. A shower uses a lot less hot water than running a bath and use cold-water settings on a washing machine.

A programmable thermostat

A programmable thermostat will allow you to set lower temperatures during the night and then automatically increasing it in the mornings and in the evenings in time for getting home after work.