How to do the Money Saving Boiler Challenge and save hundreds off your bill

13 January 2023, 11:40

How to save money on your energy bills. Picture: Getty Images

By Naomi Bartram

@naomibartram

What is the Money Saving Boiler Challenge and how much money can it save you?

With energy bills at an all time high, most of us are looking for ways to cut costs this winter.

And now one charity has come up with the Money Saving Boiler Challenge, which could potentially save you hundreds.

It has even been championed by Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis, who said it’s ‘well worth everybody doing’.

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But what is the Money Saving Boiler Challenge and how do you do it? Find out everything…

Here's how you can reduce your energy bill. Picture: Getty Images

What is the Money Saving Boiler Challenge?

Introduced by charity Nesta, the challenge sees households change the temperature on their combi boilers in order to save money.

According to Nesta: “Combi boilers work best when they heat the water that goes to the radiators at 60°C or below (this is called the ‘flow temperature’)”.

Many boilers could be on a higher temperature than recommended, which means energy is consistently being wasted.

By turning down the flow rate or flow temperature to 60°C or below, this is a more efficient setting than the standard 70°C to 80°C.

This will put combi boilers in ‘condensing mode’, which will allow it to ‘recover heat that would otherwise be lost so that it runs more efficiently’.

Reducing the temperature on your boiler could save you money. Picture: Alamy

So while radiators will still heat up to their usual temperature, they will take slightly longer.

This isn’t possible for all boilers and doesn’t work if you have a hot water tank, but it could help thousands of people.

How much could the Money Saving Boiler Challenge save?

According to the Money Saving Boiler Challenge website, the average household could save more than £100 per year in energy costs.

They explain: “We estimate that a medium-sized household (12,000 kWh of annual gas consumption) would reduce its annual gas consumption by 9.1% when lowering flow temps from 80°C to 60°C. This saving equates to 1,089 kWh of gas, which, at 10.3p per kWh of gas (the Energy Price Guarantee unit rate for gas), equates to £112.

Martin Lewis has championed the Money Saving Boiler Challenge. Picture: ITV

“A high-use household uses 17,000 kWh of gas every year. This equates to a £159-a-year saving from lowering flow temperatures from 80°C to 60°C.”

Martin Lewis has championed the tip on his ITV show, telling viewers last year: "Now I’ve talked about this one before - The Money Saving Boiler Challenge - nothing to do with me.

"This is a website that takes you through - if you’ve got a combi boiler, that the vast majority of you do - how to turn down the flow rate.

“You can turn this down, it won’t affect the heat of your house, it will still be the same temperature. It won’t affect your hot water temperature, it might take slightly longer to get up to the maximum temperature but it can get £100 a year off your bill and is well worth everybody doing.”