Keeping yourself snug this Winter

In the news this week, the Industry regulator, Ofgem has warned that the rising cost of wholesale energy could drive the average domestic gas bill to more than £700 per year which will constitute a 13 per cent increase in household gas prices so reducing your energy consumption will help your pocket as well as the environment.

According to the Energy Saving Trust the average costs to insulate a 3 bedroom, semi-detached house is around the £250 mark, and the outlay would soon be recouped with savings to heating costs estimated at £110 at year. However, you can still get a government grant towards insulating your property, whatever you income so it’s worth checking out the Government Grants website for further information. 

For those of us who live in Mendip there is the opportunity to have a free energy audit carried out at our home by the Mendip Energy Efficiency volunteers (which takes around an hour) and advice can be given on energy saving, central heating and solar energy and they can even arrange for the installation of cavity wall and loft insulation, while for those in fuel poverty they may even be able to help in obtaining a lower energy tariff.

Now is the time  is maybe time to do some basic checks (roofs, gutters, drains etc), carry out and necessary remedial work and ensure you can stay warm and snug despite the inclement weather while at the same time keeping check on soaring energy bills.

 

With regards to preparing your home, while you can probably carry out simple tasks like bleeding your radiators and putting up heavy curtains to block out draughts, something like getting your boiler and central heating system serviced is not something you should tackle yourself.  This should only be carried out by a gas safe registered engineer (this is a body that has taken over from the now defunct Corgi register).  There are a bunch of registered engineers in our business directory like Tony Elvin, K S Harris, Graney and Jones, and J Worgan and Son so it may be well worth contacting one of them to make sure your boiler is in optimum condition.

  

It is also useful to have a small supply of salt or sand at hand so that you can leave your house without falling over, and maybe invest in a decent shovel and stick it in the boot of your car.  Locally B & Q or Wollens are obviously useful places to acquire these.

It's a good idea to arrange to have your chimney cleaned if you have one. This will make sure it's safe to use in the coming winter months, after all you don't want the house to be full of smoke the first time you light the fire.  If anyone knows of a good chimney sweep in Glastonbury, perhaps you could let us know.

 

Knowing where your stopcock is, is useful, although it is surprising the amount of people that don’t, because if despite having lagged and protected your pipes you still find yourself with a water leak or burst pipe, you will find that a little water can make an awful lot of mess while you are running round in a panic trying to stop it.

Transition Towns Glastonbury is a group well worth investigating, they have an online forum as well as a website and newsletter and amongst much other useful information they can advise on saving money on energy bills. 

If you have any useful tips on how on how best to keep ourselves safe and warm this winter, perhaps you can share them with us here, and if you would like to add to our list of tradesmen or review any businesses then please comment and write your reviews in the Glastonbury People business directory.