A heating expert has warned Brits against waiting to crank up the thermostats in their homes, warning it can create “unnecessary” problems.
Around 22million homes’ energy bills will increase by a staggering 6.5 per cent from October 2022 as a result of rising wholesale gas prices and the new energy price cap.
As a result, many are vowing to put off turning on their heating until the last possible moment.
However Winston Davies, heating expert and founder of Avenue Heating warned of the dangers of waiting too long.
And he revealed the date Brits should consider turning the heating on.
He told the Express : “Whilst we’re still in high double-digits, I don’t think it’s necessary to have your heating switched on just yet.
"However, that said, you should be turning your heating on once a week for half an hour, just to keep the moving parts from seizing up when you actually need them.
“The biggest downside is that people don’t turn their system on all summer and then try and use it when it’s really cold, only to find it doesn’t work!
"There are ball bearings in pumps and other hydraulic components that can seize up if not used regularly.”
To avoid unnecessary heating issues, Winston explained October 1 is generally the best time to start warming up your radiators.
He added leaving it on a low temperature of around 16C for one or two hours a day is enough to "warm up" the system.
Going forward, Winston explained that using your heating consistently is more useful to keep heating costs to a minimum without compromising your health or the comfort of your home.
He said: "If you have a digital thermostat, you can select a certain temperature (we use 18C in our house) and leave the heating on.
"But it will only come on if the temperature goes below what it has been set to. This is a great way of keeping an ambient temperature on a budget."
If you don't have digital heating controls, the alternative is to set the timer to come on and off at different times of the day throughout winter.
Winston added: "The issue with this is that if it is freezing and you have to get up early and the programmer isn’t set to an earlier time, it can be quite uncomfortable.”
He added another issue can be finding a heating firm to fix any potential problems caused by the long months of not being used.
He said: “Not only are you then left with the almost impossible task of finding a good heating company when ‘silly-season’ has arrived, but allowing your home to drop to anything below 10 degrees could really start to cause problems."