Checking that people know this energy saving tip

[JollyHostess]

Putting it in AIBU for traffic, it has saved me some money off my gas bill so far so I hope it can help others.

You may already know this, in which case ignore and move on.

You can use less gas by checking your flow settings on your boiler. Mine was set to 80 degrees by default which meant I was spending huge amounts on heating up water that then has to be cooled down with cold water. In the case of heating it just takes a little longer to warm up.

This advice comes from Octopus: for combi boiler set your flow temperature to 50 degrees for water and 55 heating.

There is advice for boilers with hot water cylinders attached.

I'm taking part in the Octopus Winter Workout and according yo them I have saved £95 since the beginning of December and this is the only substantial change I have made!

I assumed everyone knew about this except me but my sister hadn't heard of it and she's very hot on money saving so I thought there must be others out there.

Seems worth a try since we're all crippled with ridiculous energy bills at the moment.

Good call. I’ve worked in the energy sector for 10 years and didn’t know this

Thank you OP!

Thanks op. Just done mine so hopefully it will make a difference.

Good tip, I'll check mine when I get home. 👍

Hi OP,

warning for water - water should always be set at 60 degrees or above to kill legionella bacteria, it can survive and multiply in the pipes at lower than this and is potentially fatal!

@QforCucumber

Hi OP,

warning for water - water should always be set at 60 degrees or above to kill legionella bacteria, it can survive and multiply in the pipes at lower than this and is potentially fatal!

Worrying that Octopus Energy are giving out advice that endangers public health, eh?

I turned the temperature down to 50 on my boiler after reading that and our boiler engineer told me off at our safety check saying it needed to be 60

@BalladOfBarryAndFreda I know they refer to it in the lower part of the text, but then seem to completely contradict it with the initial paragraphs.
It is not only stored water but also that sat stagnant in pipes which can breed the bacteria (or so we were taught anyway)

Our boiler engineer advised that 45C is the absolute lowest safe temperature for the hot water tank (not combi boiler, don't know if that makes a difference) due to the legionella risk. Now I wonder whether there is a definitive statement on this anywhere and will do some digging online.

@QforCucumber, it’s much less likely in combi boiler set ups but a real danger for those with water tanks. Best to stick with 60 degrees for safety all round, really.

I saw some other helpful tips on the news today too such as doing star jumps and eating porridge.

@QforCucumber

Hi OP,

warning for water - water should always be set at 60 degrees or above to kill legionella bacteria, it can survive and multiply in the pipes at lower than this and is potentially fatal!

Thanks for flagging this, I'm no kind of expert on this.

Even 60 should make a difference

Our boiler has been on 65 for water for yrs. heating is the same. If you have to add cold to it you’ve wasted money. Loads of other info out there to make boilers run more efficiently, just have to rummage for info.

Yes it's great I do that too... our boiler water is set to 55/60 as I don't need scalding hot water especially with kids

Our boiler has some comfort mode and a mini water storage tank which was constantly heating the water switched that off and saved hundreds in gas!

Thank you, will change my settings x

Lower the temp & your boiler will last longer. None of this is rocket science. Drive a car hard & the consumption goes up. foot off gas slightly & you get more. Easy

Excellent OP - do you have any super electricity ones too ?

@ponkydonkey

Yes it's great I do that too... our boiler water is set to 55/60 as I don't need scalding hot water especially with kids

Our boiler has some comfort mode and a mini water storage tank which was constantly heating the water switched that off and saved hundreds in gas!

I'm in awe of people that already knew this!

How much money have I wasted over the years 😑😑😑

@Shouldbeworkingnotreadingtalk

Excellent OP - do you have any super electricity ones too ?

Unfortunately not! Not unless Octopus sends them to me first 😄

I knew this and water is hot, not lava ,but it's way too advanced for the rest of the household who can't even switch off the lights and close the bloody doors!

Interesting!

I hadn't thought about this. Our water comes out scolding sometimes and we do have to add a lot of cold! Can you adjust the temperature on all boilers? I think ours is about 40 years old so I'm not sure what's possible.

@Flippydip

I hadn't thought about this. Our water comes out scolding sometimes and we do have to add a lot of cold! Can you adjust the temperature on all boilers? I think ours is about 40 years old so I'm not sure what's possible.

I'm not sure.

Maybe @PigletJohn can comment on this?

Legionnaire's disease isn't common in the UK: only around 250 reported cases most years and apparently half of those are contracted abroad. Not meaning to minimise the effects on those who develop it, but it's fairly rare and it's useful to know the stats to be able to put it into perspective.

There's no danger to anyone with a combi-boiler of turning the hot water temperature down as low as they want. Combis are constantly supplied with fresh water from the mains and Legionnaires develops in standing water.

People with water tanks do need to be careful but most modern systems are programmed to heat up once a week or so to a temperature that will kill off any bugs. It should be safe for someone with a water tank to do likewise — set the temperature to 50 and once a week put it up to 60 for a few hours.

FYI, in households with children or elderly people (whose skin is less robust than the average adult) the advice is to heat water to only 50C. More than that and there can be a danger of scalding.