Hey guys,
I always post something like this in September time. The summer holidays are over, kids are back at school, work is settling back in, and I’m sure most of you have already started seeing Christmas adverts popping up (I heard my first one on Spotify on 1 September!).
When we hit the proper cold months, certain things get more expensive, so it’s best to sort them sooner rather than later.
Bills
Energy
The first thing to do is sort your bills out. The primary bill that is impacted by the winter months is your energy bill. The October price cap is going up, so the first thing you have to do is get your energy bills secured.
If you’re on a standard tariff, then your bills are the highest they can be! Look out for anything like “standard”, “default”, “variable”, or “flex” in your tariff, name, if thats what you have then your energy bills are in trouble.
You should switch to a fixed rate tariff, currently the cheapest available on both Free Price Compare and Uswitch is the E.ON Next Next Fixed 12m v83 which is around £190.00 cheaper than the recently announced October price cap. The best thing to do is go to one of these price comparison services, see how much you can save and switch to a much cheaper deal.
Boiler
Right, the next big one is getting your boiler covered. Generally, if your boiler is under 5 years old then you’re probably safe not to get it insured, but if it’s older than 5 years then it’s best to be safe. I’ve had it twice before, where my boiler broke down in winter, no heating or hot water and it sucked. Fortunately, I was renting both times and my landlords did have boiler cover, so it only took a couple of days to get fixed, but I’ve heard horror stories from people that weren’t covered having a 2-3 week wait for a boiler engineer to have availability in the winter.
There are plenty of options for boiler cover, most of you will be able to get a discount with your supplier if they offer it. You can look around online or you can use Home Emergency Assist, I’ve secured an exclusive discount with them. Just enter the code REGULATORGUY in the discount box on the quote page, you will get 35% off of the insurance.
Getting your boiler serviced is also a good idea, prevention rather than cure. It usually costs around £80-£100 to get your boiler serviced, again Home Emergency Assist can arrange a boiler service for you, unfortunately the discount code doesn’t knock anything off of that.
Your Home
Seals
Right, you got your bills sorted, now lets get your home sorted. If you’re in an older property, the sealings around your windows and doors may let draughts in. A draught coming in is heat going out, and you pay for that heat, so it’s literally money out the window.
A roll of draught excluder costs about £2.50, it’s worth every penny. They’re easy enough to self-install, I’ve used them before, they’re not always perfect but they certainly improved the temperature of my home. So, if you have any draughty windows or doors, set aside an afternoon one weekend and get them sorted.
Cooking & Hosting
Bills sorted, draughts excluded, lets look at ways to increase the temp in your home without having your heating on. The best one is cooking. All that heat in the kitchen warms your home, but the most forgotten tip which I love is leaving your oven open after you’ve cooked. Any heat stored in the oven can then leave and heat your kitchen and hopefully some other rooms around your home.
And what better excuse to cook in the oven than having some friends or family round for an evening. I know this sounds weird, but it actually helps everyones bills if you all congregate in one house. People generate heat, you get five or six people in a room and you don’t need the heating on because your body temperatures heat up the room. Additionally, those people won’t need to have the heating on at home if they’re round yours, win-win! It also helps winter seem a little cosier if you’re having regular gatherings with people you love.
That’s it from me, there are a million other tips that I think we’ve all heard before (wear more layers, drink heat drinks etc.) but my key insights are getting your bills as low as possible at all times, add extra heat to your home without putting the heating on, these are all useful actions to take!
If you have any tips you’d like me to pass on, please do email me at Richard@TheRegulatorGuy.co.uk.
Thanks everyone,
Richard Winstone
The Regulator Guy.
