Heating your home is something that should be affordable but for many is not. This can become even trickier to navigate when you live alone as I do.
Turning on the heating means that every room of the house warms up unless I take the time to walk around and turn off various radiators. Many people in my position are looking to other forms of heat, including space heaters and electric blankets, to stay warm without breaking the bank.
But after reading that a tool available at Screwfix for 99p could help to reduce the cost of energy bills and ensure my house warmed up efficiently, I decided to try it out. My first step was to do what any good feminist would do and call my dad for help.
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Despite 99p being very cheap, I knew he would have a radiator key I could borrow so I was already almost £1 up. It is simple enough to use and is designed to release excess air from radiators to help them work more efficiently.
After going around my house to get each radiator, my work was done after around 10 minutes. Being such a small effort, I was not expecting to see much of a result but was surprised when I found myself turning the heating down when usually I would not.
I may have placeboed myself into thinking the house was warming up much quicker than usual, but being able to switch the thermostat to a lower temperature and remain comfortable was enough for me.
Keeping your home at 18C is recommended to avoid issues such as mould or other health conditions. And whether the tool made any big change or not, for the sake of 99p (or a call to your dad) it is certainly worth a try for any homeowner this winter.
I cannot say for sure how much the hack has saved me, but it is reported that turning the heating down by just 1C can reduce your bills by £90 a year which I will happily take.