The pandemic’s impact on our heating bills – how we can work round the new normal
‘Unprecedented’ feels like a bit of an understatement when it comes to describing the global pandemic we are all journeying through right now. As well as learning new words such as ‘furlough’ and ‘social distancing’, many of us have had to acclimatise ourselves to working from home full-time instead of in the office.
With millions of us now holding our work video-conference team calls from dinner tables, home offices, sheds or bedrooms, there has been an enormous sea-change in how we are using our homes. Although we don’t know how long the social-distancing restrictions will remain in place, one thing is for certain, things won’t be returning to normal anytime soon for the majority of us.
With increased time at home, a knock-on effect has been the amount of money people are having to spend on their heating bills. According to researchi, UK households used 15% more heating in March than the corresponding month last year. With additional research reporting that the UK could spend an extra £52 million a week on household energy bills as an estimated 16.8 million people stay at home amid the coronavirus outbreak, we are indeed facing ‘unprecedented’ times!
Although April was kind weather-wise, May is much cooler and it doesn’t seem time to turn the heating off completely just yet. So, with people spending more time living and working from home than ever before, what can be done to curb our ever-increasing heating bills?
- Did you know that turning down the thermostat by 1°C saves around £80 a year on the average household energy bill?
- Only heat the area where you are working in and close the doors! This ensures the heat remains in the required space.
- Use localised heating controls to their full advantage. As well as using a thermostat and timer, individual electric radiators can save money and energy, especially when used to lower the heating in rooms that aren’t used as frequently as others.
If working from and being at home more is your ‘new normal’, electric radiators are ideal for those looking to heat one area of the home in which they are working, or if heat is needed in an outdoor office space or summerhouse. They are cost-effective and offer excellent energy efficiency. There is no energy wastage with electric heating because energy doesn’t escape through a flue (as with gas boiler systems).
Instead, 100% of the electricity used to power an electric radiator is converted into heat. This ensures less energy is required to run an electric radiator and you’re able to control the temperature in different rooms individually, rather than from one central control point, further cutting energy waste.
Haverland supplies a wide range of electric radiators that offer exceptional added value and functional features that will enable you to make your heating work round your new ‘normal’, rather than the other way around.
- Flexible programming to suit any home-working schedule – program them day by day, hour by hour
- Built-in energy monitor – monitor your energy use easily. For every degree you reduce, you’ll save up to 8% in energy cost.
- Open window function – the radiator automatically shuts down when it senses a fall in temperature within a set time frame. This save you money by avoiding unnecessary heating.
- Adaptable start functions – so the room is warm ready for when you need to use it
So, in these ‘unprecedented’ times, electric radiators can offer a simple way to control the heating while home-working – and the subsequent heating bills, giving you one less thing to worry about. To see what electric radiators can do for you, why not have a look at Haverland’s range?
