Saving gas with your combi boiler primarily involves optimizing its settings for heating and hot water and ensuring your heating system is efficient.
Key Ways to Save Gas with Your Combi Boiler
Based on energy-saving tips, several adjustments to your combi boiler and heating system can help reduce gas consumption.
Adjust the Flow Temperature
The flow temperature is the temperature the water is heated to before being sent to your radiators. Reducing this temperature can significantly improve efficiency, especially for modern condensing combi boilers, as it allows the boiler to operate in condensing mode more often.
- Action: Change the flow temperature to the "best setting." While the optimal setting varies, aiming for a radiator flow temperature around 55-60°C is often recommended for maximizing condensing efficiency, provided your home still heats comfortably.
- Benefit: Operating in condensing mode recovers heat from exhaust gases, using less energy.
Lower Hot Water Temperature
Your combi boiler heats water instantly for taps and showers. Turning down the temperature it heats this water to means the boiler doesn't have to work as hard.
- Action: Consider turning down the hot water temperature. A setting of around 50-55°C is usually sufficient for domestic use and safe, though some recommend 60°C for bacterial prevention in stored water systems (not typically an issue with combi boilers heating on demand).
- Benefit: Less energy is needed to heat water to a lower temperature.
Manage the 'Pre-Heat' Function
Some combi boilers have a 'pre-heat' or 'comfort' function that keeps a small amount of water hot in a internal store so that hot water is delivered instantly when a tap is turned on.
- Action: Consider turning off the 'pre-heat' function on your combi boiler. You might have to wait a few extra seconds for hot water, but the boiler won't cycle on and off to maintain the small hot water store.
- Benefit: Saves gas used for maintaining the pre-heated water store when not needed.
Bleed Your Radiators
Air trapped inside radiators prevents hot water from circulating effectively, leading to cold spots. This means your boiler might have to work harder or for longer to heat the room.
- Action: Bleed radiators that have cold spots at the top. This removes trapped air, allowing hot water to fill the radiator properly.
- Benefit: Improves radiator efficiency, ensuring rooms heat up effectively with less energy.
These tips are based on information provided in resources such as the Tower Hamlets Council money-saving tips for boilers and radiators.
Summary of Gas-Saving Actions for Combi Boilers
Here's a quick overview of the actions and their benefits:
| Action | How it Saves Gas |
|---|---|
| Adjust Flow Temperature | Allows boiler to operate more efficiently (condensing). |
| Lower Hot Water Temp | Less energy needed to heat water. |
| Turn Off 'Pre-Heat' | Avoids wasting energy keeping water hot unnecessarily. |
| Bleed Radiators | Ensures radiators heat efficiently. |
Implementing these simple changes can help reduce your gas consumption and lower energy bills while maintaining a warm home and sufficient hot water.
