OFTEC urges people to smarten up their heating

Trade body issues guide for UK households to reduce their carbon emissions

OFTEC, the trade body that represents the oil heating industry, has created a guide to smarter heating to urge UK households to join a nationwide effort to reduce the amount of energy they use to heat their homes.

This comes on the back of provisional figures for 2018 that show a 2.8% increase in carbon emissions caused by residential energy use from the year before. That’s a total of 65.9 million tonnes. See our recent article on tackling climate change here.

The guide, which you can see here, recommends a range of smart technologies related to your heating system that can help you manage your energy use better.

These include:

• Installing thermostatic radiator valves so you can vary temperature in each individual room rather than simply setting the heat for the whole house
• Upgrading to smart heating controls that allow you to manage your heating remotely via an app. These can allow you to easily change when your heating is on according to your daily schedule rather than a fixed timer
• Using smart tools to monitor your usage such as a smart meter or monitor for oil heating systems
• Installing self-bleeding valves which will help your system run more efficiently and remove the need to manually bleed the radiators
• Upgrading your boiler if it’s old or inefficient

Malcolm Farrow from OFTEC said:

"Consumers have an important role to play when it comes to reducing our carbon footprint and the collective actions individuals take really can make a difference. Speak with your local technician when you next have your boiler serviced as they will be able to provide advice and guidance on the best way of enhancing your existing setup."

We can help with a number of these measures; we have also issued advice on many of them which you can see by clicking on the links included. If you would like to discuss how we can help you be more energy efficient, please call us on 0333 577 0151 or complete the form opposite.