How to Cut Your Heating Bill: 12 Tips That Actually Work

Heating accounts for the largest share of energy use in most homes, so it’s where you can save the most, often without spending anything. These 12 tips are sorted by effort: you can do the first ones today, and the last ones are mainly for homeowners.

Immediate and free

1. Lower the room temperature by one degree

The simplest measure with the biggest effect: each degree lower saves around 6% of heating energy. After a few days, most people find 20 instead of 22 °C in the living room perfectly comfortable.

Room	Recommended temperature
Living room, study	approx. 20 °C
Kitchen	approx. 18 °C
Bedroom	16–18 °C
Bathroom (when showering)	approx. 22 °C
Hallway	15–18 °C

2. Air out in short bursts instead of leaving windows tilted

A permanently tilted window cools the walls around it and wastes a lot of heat. Better: open all windows wide for 5–10 minutes, 2–4 times a day, and turn the thermostats down meanwhile.

3. Keep radiators clear

Sofas, long curtains or covers in front of radiators trap the heat. Leave at least 10–15 cm of space so warm air can circulate.

4. Turn down at night and when you’re out

Lower the temperature by 3–5 °C at night and when nobody is home, but don’t switch off completely. Reheating cold rooms costs more and increases the risk of mould.

5. Close doors between rooms of different temperatures

Otherwise warm air drifts into cooler rooms, condenses on the walls and encourages mould.

6. Close shutters and curtains at night

Closed shutters and thick curtains noticeably reduce heat loss through windows, especially older ones.

On a small budget

7. Bleed your radiators

If a radiator gurgles or stays cold at the top, there’s air in the system. Bleeding takes a few minutes per radiator: turn the thermostat up, ideally switch the heating pump off briefly, open the valve with a bleed key until water instead of air comes out. Then check the system’s water pressure.

8. Programmable or smart thermostats

They lower the temperature automatically on a schedule: at night, while you’re at work, on holiday. Good models start at about €20–30 per radiator and fit in minutes, even in rented flats.

9. Seal windows and doors

Feel a draught? New sealing strips for windows and doors and draught excluders are cheap and quick to fit. Test with a candle: if the flame flickers at a closed window, it’s leaking.

10. Insulate radiator recesses

Radiators on outside walls lose some heat straight into the wall. Reflective insulation panels behind the radiator can reduce this, especially with thin recess walls in older buildings.

For homeowners

11. Have hydraulic balancing done

Without balancing, radiators close to the boiler get too much hot water and distant ones too little, so the whole system is often set higher than necessary. Hydraulic balancing by a heating engineer ensures even heat and allows a lower flow temperature. Ask about current subsidies.

12. Lower the flow temperature and insulate pipes

Many heating systems run hotter than the house needs. Have the engineer adjust the heating curve. And uninsulated heating pipes in the basement or storage room heat spaces that don’t need it. Pipe insulation from a DIY store is cheap and quick to fit.

How much can you save?

It depends heavily on the building, the heating system and your habits. As a guide, lowering the temperature by 1–2 °C, ventilating properly and turning down at night can often cut heating costs by 10–20% without significant investment. Bigger savings come from structural measures like insulation or a new heating system, where independent energy advice is worthwhile.