Autumn has arrived. And with it, colder temperatures. If you’re like most people, you’ve probably started wearing jumpers indoors again. Maybe you’ve also gone back to watching TV under a blanket! And if you’re anything like us, you’ve probably started to think about the cheapest ways of keeping your home warm.

Heating your home can often be one of your biggest expenses over the autumn and winter months. And this year could be even more expensive due to rising energy costs. But you’re not alone. Lots of experts have been thinking about keeping energy costs down, and one team has come up with a very simple solution…

Nesta, the innovation charity, has been busy carrying out research and trials to figure out how people with gas boilers could lower their energy bills. They worked out that lowering a boiler’s flow temperature can save the average household around £112 per year.

It’s great news for the planet too. Nesta say that if 10 million households lowered their boiler’s flow temperature, they’d collectively prevent 1.7 million tonnes of carbon emissions being released into the atmosphere every year. That’s equivalent to almost six million transatlantic flights!

So… what even is flow temperature?

Boilers work by heating up water and piping it around the radiators in your home. The temperature your boiler heats that water up to before it’s piped out is called the ‘flow temperature’.

Usually, the flow temperature is set between 70°C and 80°C. But the sweet-spot in terms of energy efficiency is closer to 60°C.

In fact, the lower you set the flow temperature the more efficient your boiler becomes. But it risks making your radiators too cold to heat your home effectively. So while you could experiment with lowering the flow temperature even further, 60°C is usually recommended for those who don’t want to turn their home into an energy-efficiency laboratory!

How do you change it?

You should be able to change your boiler’s flow temperature quite easily. It takes just a few minutes and you can change it back at anytime.

All boilers are different, so Nesta has created a really great step-by-step guide to help you do it.

What is the Money Saving Boiler Challenge?

Nesta aims to inspire a million people to lower their boiler flow temperature. So they’ve created the Money Saving Boiler Challenge to bring awareness to their research and help as many people as possible take action.

Snugg’s mission is to help accelerate the UK’s transition to net zero carbon emissions by making energy efficient homes simple and affordable for everyone. So we’re supporting the Money Saving Boiler Challenge to encourage a million UK households to turn down their boiler flow temperature.

Follow the link to find out how to adjust your boiler’s flow temperature and participate in the Money Saving Boiler Challenge!