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Page last updated on 20th June 2025

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 What’s the most efficient way to heat a home?

It will likely come as no surprise to anyone that keeping your home warm contributes to your energy bills. This is especially true during the colder months, when you turn the heating on to stay comfortable. With rising energy prices, you might be wondering, “how can I be more energy efficient at home?” and “when is the cheapest time to use electricity?”. We’re here to help! Read on to learn the most cost-effective ways to heat a house.

By adopting some of the cost-effective heating habits listed below, you could be on your way to making your home energy efficient and cheaper to run.

What's on this page?

How to make your home more energy efficient

Regular boiler maintenance
Bleeding radiators regularly
Use a programmable or smart thermostat
Set your thermostat to the recommended temperature
Heat rooms you are occupying
Using curtains
Block draughts

The most economical way to heat your home: alternative heating

Conventional electric heating
Storage heaters
Heat pumps

How to make your home more energy efficient

For those wondering how to make their home more energy efficient, there are several steps and energy saving habits you can adopt to optimise the efficiency of your existing home heating system:

Regular boiler maintenance

According to Energy Saving Trust, who are an impartial and trusted organisation for energy efficiency it is recommended that you have your boiler serviced every year to ensure it is working efficiently. The cost of boiler maintenance is dependent on where you are located and how much work needs to be done. If you want to know the most economical way to heat your home, the more efficient a boiler is, the less it can cost to run.
Bleed radiators regularly

Regularly bleeding your radiators can prevent hot air from being trapped within the system. This allows the radiator to heat your home evenly and helps reduce energy bills by minimising the time your heating needs to be on.
Using a programmable or smart thermostat

The cheapest way to heat a house with electricity or gas could be to use a programmable thermostat that works with your heating system. Many programmable thermostats allow you to manually set different temperatures for different times of the day, such as lowering the temperature at night.

A smart thermostat can be operated using a smartphone app, allowing you to set schedules and adjust temperatures even when you’re not in the house.

Curious about how much energy you are consuming? By switching to a smart meter, you can monitor how much energy you are consuming in near real-time, helping you make more informed decisions about your energy usage.

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Set your thermostat to the recommended room temperature

Ensuring that the rooms you spend most of your time in are kept at a minimum of 18°C, particularly during the winter months, can help keep a consistent and comfortable temperature in your home. Staying with the recommended temperature range supports your wellbeing and helps you manage your energy usage effectively.
Heat rooms you are occupying

Using your thermostatic radiator valves (the valves fitted to the end of your radiators), you can control the temperatures of individual rooms around the house. One way of making your home energy efficient and cheaper to run is turning down the valves in rooms that you are not occupying and keeping your doors closed when not in use.

You can learn more about adjusting your thermostatic radiator valves on our energy saving tips page.
Make use of curtains

Retain heat around the house by using thick curtains or thermal blinds in the winter or at night. In the day, open the curtains to allow natural sunlight in for added warmth.
Block draughts

Draughts are caused by air escaping through gaps and cracks in the home. Some ways to block draughts include:

• Keeping doors closed to avoid losing heat.
• Placing draught excluders under gaps such as doors and window frames.
• Insulating your home.

Most economical way to heat your home: alternative heating

Alternatively, if you’re wondering “how can I be more energy efficient and save money on my heating bills”, you might be interested in knowing more about different types of heating sources:

Conventional electric heating

Conventional or ‘direct’ electric heating, such as panel or infrared heaters, have low upfront costs and require very little maintenance. However, since electricity is more expensive than gas, the running costs tend to be higher. Therefore, direct electric heating is more efficient for smaller or well-insulated homes.

Electric storage heaters

Storage heaters are designed to store heat during off-peak periods and release it when needed, making them cheaper to run than conventional electric heating – especially as they are typically coupled with time-of-use tariffs. While they are typically easy to install, they don't always provide consistent heat or precise temperature control for efficiently heating your home. Similarly to the electric heating options we mentioned earlier, the potentially higher cost of electricity should be considered when thinking about investing in electric storage heaters.

Heat pumps

Generally, heat pumps work by transferring thermal energy to your central heating system. When making your home energy efficient, heat pumps tend to be significantly more efficient than your standard heating systems. Although they have a high upfront cost and require proper insulation to function effectively, they usually have a low running cost and can be more environmentally friendly in the long run.

It is essential to keep your home warm, particularly at night or during the colder months. In this guide, we've explored potential ways of how to heat your home more cheaply and how to optimise your home heating system for you and your situation.

If you want to monitor your home energy usage, why not request a smart meter? Enter the name of your supplier in the box below to get started.