Now winter is under way, it is important to ensure that our homes are well prepared for the colder weather conditions.

If you plan for the winter it will mean that you are fully prepared for any emergencies as well as being able to greatly reduce costly repair bills that may come your way.

The level of preparation that you undertake will often depend on your budget as well as the amount of time you have before the winter months set in. Larger preparation jobs will include installing double-glazing or investing in loft insulation. However, if time doesn’t permit there are simple and cheaper draught excluders available that can be used as a stop-gap.

In the winter the main problems are caused when the temperature drops. Often pipes will burst due to the changes in temperature and therefore it is important to know how to turn off the main water supply if this should happen. Therefore as a preventative measure it will be important to insulate pipes to keep them warm and dry.

As well as preparing for the possibility of water damage you should consider how you can cope if there was a power cut that caused disruption to the electricity as well as the gas supply. This could result in you losing the ability to run your central heating system and therefore you will be unable to heat your home or get hot water.

So, how do you prepare for all these emergencies?

All households should prepare by packing an emergency kit that is in an easily accessible place so that everyone in a household can access it if they require. This kit should include:

• An emergency list of telephone number such as gas engineers or information regarding your home insurance policies.
• A torch which is either battery operated (with spare batteries available) or a wind up torch.
• Bottled water to drink in case the water supply gets cut off.
• A first aid kit which also includes essential toiletries.
• Any spare keys to the home so that they are all located in a central place.

With the cold winters that the UK has witnessed over the past few years no one can say what weather this winter will bring. So it is better to prepare for the worst. It is also not only important to prepare the home for winter but also prepare your families regarding the risks and how to react and cope in an emergency.

Finally, it is important to prepare your car for winter in case there is a lot of snow and ice to contend with. This includes putting an emergency kit in the car as well as checking the weather conditions before you travel.

Guest Article by Sarah Wain

Within your home the central heating system will often provide both heat and hot water and households will typically spend over half of their fuel bill on using the system.

It is therefore important that households understand the heating system to ensure they are getting the most out of it.

The majority of households in the UK use a boiler with radiators to heat their homes. The boiler heats up the water and then distributes it to the radiators around the home as well as providing hot water for the house. Most boilers are gas but they can be run using oil, coal or wood. However, gas is considered the cheapest and also offers lower carbon dioxide emissions. There are two types of boilers which can be used, either combination boilers or boilers which heat up water through the use of an immersion heater and water is then stored in a hot water tank.

Boilers which heat up a tank are considered less energy efficient and if your household currently has this type of boiler there are a number of ways in which you can improve your energy-saving when using this boiler. This includes replacing the boiler with a newer energy efficient one, changing to a cheaper and lower emission fuel to heat the boiler such as wood as well as making insulation improvements to retain the heat for longer.

Gas boilers that have been installed since 2005 tend to be condensing boilers as these are more efficient. These boilers can either be a combination boiler or just a regular boiler. Combination boilers provide hot water directly as and when required whereas regular boilers need a hot water tank to heat up the water and a programmer to tell it when to heat up the water. Once the hot water is heated it will remain in the hot water tank until it is required.

If your household however doesn’t have a boiler or radiators then it is likely that they will use electric storage heaters. These heaters are often are used overnight (as it is cheaper to use electricity during the night) to provide a household with heat to last the day through. This type of heating system is considered the most expensive and also the most energy inefficient. It will also mean that these households will heat water through a hot water tank that is controlled by an immersion heater.

Guest Article by Sarah Wain

A thermostat is a device used by a central heating system. The device regulates the temperature of the system and turns it on and off as necessary. A household therefore sets the desired temperature they want to maintain and the thermostat will switch on and off the heating dependent on whether the temperature is met.

Conventional thermostats would have been fitted to walls but nowadays wireless thermostats have been developed as an alternative option. Wireless thermostat use radio frequency that transmit the on and off signal to a receiver which can control the boiler and switch that on and off as required. This also means that wireless thermostat can change the temperature from any room in a house.

There are many benefits of using a wireless thermostat remote compared to a conventional one.

Firstly, wireless thermostats are perfect for households wanting to relocate their thermostat. Many households find that the location of their existing thermostat is incorrect causing the boiler to come on when not required. By using a wireless thermostat they can move it to a better position without the need for complex and possibly untidy wires to move the existing thermostat.

Secondly, you can take the thermostat remote with you around the house. For example, if you are cold in bed in night you can reach over and adjust the temperature if you have a wireless thermostat meaning that you don’t have to get out of bed. This portability can be very useful for many households such as the elderly and disabled with limited mobility.

Thirdly, you have flexibility as you can put the thermostat in any room and adjust the houses temperature in accordance to the temperature in that room. This would be particularly important to a family with a new baby, for example, as they can ensure the baby’s room remains at the right temperature for the baby by placing the thermostat in their room.

Finally, you can have multiple wireless thermostats in different rooms to help you control the heating system. Or you can install technology that allows you to control the temperature in each room separately. This could possibly help you reduce your energy bill as you will be controlling the temperature in each room.

Therefore, there are many advantages to installing a wireless thermostat. Even though the cost of installing one can be expensive, they are particularly useful if a household wants to try and control their energy bill more closely. The thermostats will also come with the latest digital technology (compared to a conventional one) which means they are considered more accurate.

Guest Article by Sarah Wain

Radiators are thermal energy heating devices that work by passing hot water around their pipes as a means of heating a room.

The heat that is transmitted from the radiator is radiated throughout a room evenly and this makes radiators efficient in the way that they heat households as the heat is distributed naturally.

In the past radiators tended to be made of iron and be very large, however advancements in technology and innovation has meant that newer radiators are smaller and prettier while providing the same amount of heat. These radiators are also more environmentally-friendly and can therefore help cut a households carbon emissions. As well as wall-mounted radiator units, radiator systems can be installed under floors so that there is not always the need for wall mounted radiators to be installed which is ideal for households that want to save space as there are no visible units.

It is important to look after your radiators and ensure they are working to their optimum level as they play a key role in ensuring the warmth of your home over the winter months. This will mean carrying out such maintenance activities as bleeding the radiators and keeping them painted. Bleeding the radiators will involve removing any trapped air inside it that stops it heating evenly. Painting the radiators means removing any rust on the radiator and painting it with radiator paint which contains pigments that can withstand heat without discolouring.

Households look to replace their radiators when they are either outdated or they want to install more energy efficient ones to benefit from reduced fuel bills and an improved heating system. And over time radiators become less energy efficient as during their life they can develop a build-up of silt and can start to corrode meaning that the radiators will develop cold spots.

If you want to replace your radiators you will need to decide on the type of radiator you want and whether they are suitable to replace your existing system. Most new radiators will be suitable as long as they have standard pipe work and valves. You will also need to decide whether you want to have radiators with thermostatic radiator valves which are valves that automatically switch off the radiator when it reaches the desired temperature. These valves make radiators more energy efficient and when combined with a timer system, energy is saved as they are only used when necessary.

You can install radiators yourself as there are ready to install radiators available at DIY stores and you won’t be restricted in the design as there are many designer radiators available which come in all shapes and sizes.

If your radiators are outdated it is worthwhile investing in new radiators as this could help save you money on your fuel bill as newer radiators use less energy.

Guest Article by Sarah Wain

To ensure that you get the most out of your boiler it is important to understand its controls and know how to use them correctly.

This will not only ensure that you can keep your home comfortable and warm, but will potentially reduce your carbon emissions and the cost of your heating bills.

There are two main controls on your boiler that should be familiar with which are as follows:

Thermostat

A thermostat connects to the boiler and regulates a room’s temperature so that the heating will come on until a desired temperature is reached and then will turn on again once the temperature drops. A programmable thermostat controls the temperature in a house and combined with a time control will allow households to set different temperatures at various times throughout the day. If a household wants to regulate the temperature they can install a thermostatic radiator valve which senses the air temperature around them and regulates the flow and heat of the water sent to the radiator it is fitted to.

It is important to ensure that you can use your thermostat correctly as if you do this can mean savings on your energy bill. As by just reducing the temperature by a degree it will mean you can save up to 10% on your heating bill.

Timer and programmer

A timer is a device on a boiler that sets the time that you want the boiler to come on whereas a programmer allows you to set times for the boiler to come on, on different days. The difference between the two is that a timer operates the boiler at the same time every day where the programmer allows you to choose different times dependent on the day of the week.

These controls are important to understand as you can set ‘on’ and ‘off’ time periods. You may also be able to control both the central heating as well as the hot water. The controls mean that you can calculate how long it takes to warm up your house and set the timer to do this for you. Therefore, in the morning before you get up and in the evening when you get home from work, the heating timer can warm up the house for you.

The timer and programmer control combined with the thermostat control means you can set the heating to come on and regulate what that temperature will be in each room.

Knowing what these controls do is therefore important to ensure the energy efficiency of your household and can help you reduce your energy bills while ensuring the temperature of your house is always maintained.

Guest Article by Sarah Wain