Ofgem’s new energy price cap comes into effect on 1 October. The headline number has had plenty of coverage, but the detail behind it is more useful, because it affects what’s worth doing with your heating before the cold weather properly sets in.

What’s changing

The new cap is 4% higher than the last one and runs from 1 October to the end of December. For a typical household paying by direct debit, that works out at around £60 a year, or about £5 a month.

The cap only applies to standard variable (default) tariffs. If you’re on a fixed deal, you won’t see this rise until your fixed term ends.

Gas is going up more than electricity

Most of the increase comes from gas. Ofgem says higher wholesale gas costs are the main driver, with gas bills rising by 8% while electricity rises by much less. The government has also taken VAT off electricity for the winter months. Gas still has it.

That means the difference in running costs between gas and electric heating has shrunk, for now at least. If your boiler is getting on and you’re wondering what to replace it with, that’s worth knowing.

The cap isn’t a limit on your bill

A lot of people read the headline figure as the most they can be charged. It isn’t. The cap sets the maximum suppliers can charge per unit of energy and for the daily standing charge. Your total bill depends on how much you use. The headline figure is based on what Ofgem counts as typical usage, so a bigger house, a draughty one, or one where the heating runs for longer will pay more than that.

You can’t change the unit price, but you can change how much energy your home needs. As our Managing Director, Lincoln Smith, says: “With bills going up again, people understandably want to know what they can do. A lot of it comes down to using the heat you’re paying for as effectively as possible.”

Energy-saving tips for this winter

1. Turn down your boiler’s flow temperature. If you have a modern condensing boiler, check this first. When the flow temperature is set too high, the boiler usually can’t condense properly and burns more gas than it should. Turning it down lets it work as intended. Your rooms will still get to the same temperature, just a little more slowly, and it won’t affect hot water on a combi. If you’re not sure how to change the setting, ask your engineer to show you at your next service.
2. Leave the thermostat alone. We hear this one all the time. Turning the thermostat right up won’t heat your home any faster. The heating just keeps running until it reaches that higher temperature, so you end up using more energy than you need. Pick the temperature you’re comfortable at and leave it there.
3. Check your controls. Spend a few minutes looking at how your timer, room thermostat and radiator valves are set up, and make sure you’re heating the rooms you use, when you use them. There’s no point paying to heat rooms nobody’s in.
4. Bleed your radiators. If a radiator is cold at the top, there’s usually air trapped inside. Bleeding it only takes a few minutes and helps the radiator heat the room properly. If you have a combi or sealed system, check the boiler pressure afterwards and top it up if it’s dropped.
5. Don’t block the heat. Keep sofas and furniture away from radiators, try not to dry washing directly on them, and draw the curtains and shut doors when it gets dark.
6. Get your boiler serviced. A boiler that’s gone a while without a service runs less efficiently and is more likely to break down in the middle of winter, when repairs are most disruptive and most expensive. “A service helps make sure the boiler is running as it should and can pick up small faults before they turn into a breakdown in the middle of winter,” says Lincoln. “Always make sure you use a reputable, appropriately qualified company. This isn’t about spending money unnecessarily. It’s about making sure the system you’ve already got is working safely and as efficiently as it can.”
7. Lag your pipes and hot water cylinder. Pipe insulation and a cylinder jacket are cheap and quick to fit, and they stop heat leaking into your loft or airing cupboard.
8. Balance your radiators and upgrade your controls. If some rooms get too hot while others never warm up, your system is working harder than it needs to. Balancing the radiators is a straightforward job for an engineer. Smart controls and thermostatic radiator valves also let you turn the heat off in rooms nobody’s using.

Bigger decisions

If your boiler is nearing the end of its life, it’s worth looking at a heat pump this year instead of automatically replacing it with another gas boiler. Heat pumps run on electricity, which has just become cheaper compared with gas.

If you heat your home with oil or LPG, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant has gone up to £9,000 for a limited time for off-gas-grid homes switching to an air source or ground source heat pump. Plenty of villages around Warwickshire aren’t on mains gas, and those homes are often the most expensive to heat.

We’re MCS accredited, so we apply for the grant on your behalf and take it off your invoice. You don’t pay the full cost upfront and claim it back later.

Why sort it now

Ofgem reviews the cap every three months, so prices could change again in January. Getting your heating running efficiently now means you benefit for the whole winter, rather than finding out in February that it’s been costing you more than it should.

It’s also worth checking which tariff you’re on. We’re heating engineers, not energy brokers, so for that we’d point you to Ofgem’s website or one of the main comparison sites.

Talk to our team

If you’re not sure whether your heating is running as efficiently as it could, give us a call on
01208 244024 and we’ll talk it through with you.