Your guide to heating your home

Your guide to

It’s perfectly natural to want to feel snug and cosy in your home. Whether you’re

relaxing in the evening or taking a hot bath or shower, there’s no better feeling than

the warm glow of a comfy house.

In the UK, providing heat and hot water in homes accounts for around 65% of domestic CO2 emissions, source: Energy Saving Trust. There are lots of things that you can do to stay warm without hitting the environment hard. By using the right boiler for example, you won’t just help cut CO2 emissions, you’ll cut your bills down to size too.

That’s where this guide can help, featuring advice on finding the right boiler and tips on heating your home efficiently. So don’t let heating your home put a freeze on your finances. Stay warm, cut costs and start saving energy straightaway.

All energy savings facts and figures are provided by the Energy Saving Trust, are current at the date of going to print, May 2010 and are based on a typical 3 bedroom semi detached house and paying a gas price of 3.67p/kWh and an electricity price of 12.50p/kWh.

Hot spots

These symbols show where you can get the energy saving measures if

you decide to give them a try:

From most DIY stores

From most superstores

From npower

Why it pays

to save energy

The average household could

save £250

by being more energy efficient around the home.

(Source: Energy Saving Trust)

This guide

has received

the Wallace

and Gromit

seal of approval

for

top tips

on saving

Imagine using more gas than you need

just to heat up your home and water.

If your boiler is over ten years old, that’s

probably exactly what you’re doing.

Heating bills can be reduced by up to

a quarter when replacing an old boiler

and upgrading heating controls.

(Source: Energy Saving Trust)

(Source: Energy Saving Trust 2010)

Heating

and hot water

Need a new boiler?

If you’re thinking of replacing your boiler and installing heating controls, call the npower hometeam. Your new boiler will come with a FREE two or five-year warranty* and we can offer you easy ways to pay.

To find out more, call

0800 072 8601

or visit npower.com/hometeam

* please see page 11.

How will

you spend

your savings?

By replacing an old G rated boiler with a new high efficiency condensing boiler and improving your heating controls, you will significantly cut your home’s carbon dioxide emissions and could save as much as £225 a year – around the price of a pampered break for two in a country hotel.

(Source: Energy Saving Trust May 2010)

Did you know?

If everyone in the UK with gas or oil

central heating installed a high

efficiency condensing boiler with full

sets of heating controls, we would

save enough energy to heat nearly

1.7 million homes for a whole year and

save around 3.8 million tonnes of CO2.

New condensing boilers are much more efficient, converting around 90% or more of fuel into heating your house and hot water. That’s better for the environment and great news for your bills. And because you’ll start saving money from day one, your new boiler could soon pay for itself.

Bright little thoughts

on boilers

Bright little thoughts

on boilers

All of our boiler

s are energy

efficient and

you choose

which one is right

for you

and your home.

COMBI BOILER

Combining an efficient water heater with a central heating boiler, these space-saving boilers give you instant, on-demand hot water. Because they don’t use an extra hot water tank, they don’t need to heat a cylinder or reheat cold water. Which means they’re economical too.

Ideal if...

…you live in a small house or flat, or you’re short for space. They also make an excellent choice if you currently have a cold water tank in your loft but you want to convert your loft into a room.

SYSTEM BOILER

Ideal if...

… you have a larger home or family. You can also keep your loft space free, although you’ll need an airing cupboard. You can set your heating system so there is normally hot water available when you need it.

The exception would be when you use more than expected or at different times from normal, when you might have to wait for it to heat up more water.

OPEN VENT BOILER

A system boiler heats your water and stores it in a separate cylinder. This means you’ll need an airing cupboard or other space for the tank. However, they need less space than traditional open vent or heating-only boilers. The boiler also lets you run hot water all over the house without the others running cold.

Ideal if...

... you already have an open vent boiler, because it’s relatively cheap to switch to a more efficient open vent sealed system. The water pressure is low though, and you may only have drinkable water from one outlet.

This type of system uses two water tanks in the loft and a hot water cylinder in the airing cupboard. So it can take up a lot of space. You can run showers, taps and baths at the same time, but the cylinder will take a little time to reheat cold water.

Look out for the logo...

If you’re upgrading your boiler, look out for the Energy Saving Trust Recommended logo. This is your guarantee you’ve chosen a great model that will help you save money and energy. All npower approved boilers carry this logo.

Which boiler is right

for me

Every home and family is different. So it’s

important to pick a boiler that’s right for

you. Too small, and it might struggle to

keep you warm. Too big, and it might bring

you high energy bills. This handy guide will

help you choose…

Heating systems

It takes more than a new boiler to heat your home efficiently. Heating controls also

help you save money and energy, installing a room thermostat can save you around

£55 a year (Energy Saving Trust).

Get the right system in place

allows you to set the temperature you want and the ideal location for your thermostat should be in the hall. It responds to the temperature around it, so when the room is warm enough, the thermostat will send a signal to the boiler to stop supplying hot water to your radiators.

• Time switches and programmers let you control when your heating and hot water

switches on and off. They can be mechanical or digital. Time switches can only control one function, such as heating hot water, while programmers can control both heating your home and heating your water.

• Boiler thermostat. You’ll find this type of thermostat on your boiler. It controls the temperature of water leaving your boiler for

the radiators and hot water cylinder. It also stops the boiler overheating. If you have a room thermostat, you can set your boiler thermostat to a high setting in winter and a lower setting in summer. You can then control your room temperatures using individual thermostatic radiator valves or room thermostat.

• Cylinder thermostat. If you do not have a combi boiler, then your hot water will be stored in the hot water cylinder or tank, which is normally found in your airing cupboard. The thermostat will control how hot your hot water is. It is best to set the thermostat at 60o_{C. This will keep your} water hot enough to prevent the growth of potentially harmful bacteria, but any hotter will use more energy than you really need.

• Thermostatic radiator valves, situated on your radiators, these allow you to control the

temperature in individual rooms. Each thermostatic radiator valve senses the air temperature around it and works to maintain your chosen temperature. It’s easy to fit these valves and you can use them to turn your radiators on or off.

Other heating systems

home using electricity, especially if your area doesn’t have a gas supply. They run on off-peak electricity tariffs, such as Economy 7. The heater switches itself on during off-peak hours – usually at night – storing the heat to release the next day.

• Direct electric heating includes systems such as electric fires, panel heaters and ceiling heating. However, they’re not economical to use for all your heating needs, and they’re not great for the environment either, so it’s a good idea to use them sparingly.

Switch to gas home heating

and you could save money!

Finances

Here is a quick re-cap on how to save

money and energy while staying warm:

• Don’t overheat – lowering your thermostat

by just 1°C could save you around £55 a year. (source: Energy Saving Trust).

• Stick to 60˚ - if you have a hot water

cylinder thermostat, keep it at 60˚C.

• Keep them closed – if you’re too warm,

turn the heating down rather than opening the windows.

• Switch off – Have your heating and hot

water on only when necessary, also, only use direct electric heating systems when needed.

• The right setting – set your boiler

thermostat on a high setting in winter and a lower setting in summer.

• Go for the middle – turn your radiator

thermostat to the middle setting, then turn up and down a notch until you’re comfortable.

• Changing rooms – use your radiator

thermostat to keep the temperature higher in the rooms you use a lot and lower in the rooms you don’t.

• Wrap in a jacket – a thick insulating jacket

for your hot water tank costs around £15, but can save you around £35 a year (source: Energy Saving Trust). It should be at least 75mm (3 inches) thick.

How will

you spend

your savings?

Insulating your hot water pipes can save you £10 a year* _{– the}

cost for two to go ten pin bowling.

* _{Source: Energy Saving Trust}

Enjoying renewable energy doesn’t have to cost the earth. With npower Solar Thermal, you can enjoy hot water, courtesy of the sun’s energy. We’ll take care of installing a system that could supply you with a third of your annual hot water needs. With npower solar prices starting from around £5,000, it’s more affordable than you might think. Finance may also be available.

To find out more,

call 0800 072 7604

and quote npm 5972

Lines are open Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm, and Saturday 9am to 5pm.

or visit npower.com/solar

Take a shower..

Taking a shower instead of a bath can use as little as a third of the water. However, be aware that many power-showers will use more water than a bath, if you tend to shower for more than 5 minutes. To be really savvy you could swap your power shower’s head for an aerating shower head. This type of shower mixes air into the flow to keep pressure high but reduce the water used. Believe it or not, the bubbles feel fab. By replacing their inefficient shower head with an aerated shower head a four person family could save around £50 a year in gas bills, and around £75 in metered water bills.

Get a gran

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of up to £1

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towards th

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Call 0800 0

_{72 0221}

Literature’ o_{r visit} npower.com

/fuelswitching

~ see page ₁₅

©Aardman Animations Ltd. 2010 * 5 year Warranty: Offered in Worcester Bosch boilers. That is 3 years more than your statutory warranty period of 2 years. †Calls: Calls may be recorded and monitored for training and security purposes. Lines are open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 5pm Saturday. *£225 saving source: Energy Saving Trust for a 65% efficient boiler replaced with an A rated boiler and a full set of heating

New boiler lad?

That’ll save some pennies.

To find out more call FREE on

0800 072 8601

†

or visit npower.com/hometeam

npower hometeam only install energy efficient boilers.

In fact each A-rated boiler is so energy efficient you

could save up to £225

_{(22,500 pennies) year after year}

Why not get your kids involved in helping you save money and energy? Climate Cops is a great website for kids aged 7 to 11, packed with games, challenges and bright ideas on energy efficiency.

Visit the site at

climatecops.com

Climate Cops

fighting to save the planet

The next steps...

We hope this guide has given you some tips on ways you can save money and energy. If you’d like to find out more about cutting costs and reducing energy use, our Energy Efficiency Helpline is ready to take your call.

For more free advice, call the

Energy Efficiency Helpline free

on

0800 02 22 20

Lines are open Mon - Fri 8am - 8pm and Sat 8am - 6pm

You can also email the team on

[email protected]

or visit npower.com/savingenergy

† Calls may be monitored and recorded for training and security purposes. Price of call may vary depending on your operator, please check for exact charges.

©Aardman/Wallace and Gromit Limited (2010).

npower Solar Thermal, Climate Cops, npower and hometeam are registered trademarks and npower is the trading name of Npower Northern Limited

Useful numbers

0800 02 22 20

Or visit

npower.com/savingenergy

For insulation enquiries and to find out if you are eligible for FREE* home insulation call

0800 980 2135

and quote ‘EE Literature’

Or visit

npower.com/insulation

To find out about our great value DIY Loft Insulation and order online visit

npower.com/diyloftinsulation

For gas boiler service and installation call npower hometeam on

0800 072 8601

Or visit

npower.com/hometeam

(Terms, conditions and geographical restrictions apply)

For information on grant funding when you switch from coal or electric to gas home heating, call

0800 072 0221

and quote ‘EE Literature’

Or visit

npower.com/fuelswitching

The Energy Saving Trust is a non-profit organisation providing free, impartial advice to help you stop wasting energy and money and help fight climate change.

To find out what you can do to stop wasting energy visit our website at energysavingtrust.org.uk or give your local Energy Saving Trust advisor a call on 0800 512 012

Our advisors will:

• Give you personalised advice on what’s practical for your home

• Explain any technical or planning issues • Tell you about grants and offers

available in your area

† Calls may be recorded and monitored for training and security purposes. Price of call may vary depending on your operator and calls from mobiles may be considerably higher, please check with your operator for exact charges. Lines are open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 5pm Saturday (9am to 6pm on Saturday for insulation enquiries). * FREE home insulation: In addition to the above terms, to be eligible for free home insulation you or someone you live with must be at least 70 years of age or in receipt of one or more of the following: Attendance Allowance, Child Tax Credit (where the relevant income is £16,040 or less), Working Tax Credit (where the relevant income is £16,040 or less),

It’s easy to stop wasting energy.