An expert has debunked some of the popular heating myths that won’t help in cutting down energy bills.
As gas and electricity bills rise and the colder winter months approach, some Scots may be looking around for ways to heat up their homes for less.
While there are some ways to keep bills down, many well-known heating hacks aren't as practical as they appear to be.
Jess Steele, heating technology expert at radiator specialists BestHeating, has explained why certain advice shouldn’t be taken as gospel.
The expert has said that there are some tricks that could save money, such as only heating the room you are in and lowering the thermostat by a degree to use less energy.
However, many popular energy saving tips won't help lower your bills, and in some cases may end up costing you more than it would have otherwise.
Here are four common energy-saving myths that the heating technology expert has busted.
Tin foil reduces heating bills – FALSE
While there is some merit in using foil to reflect heat into a room with around a third of heat lost through walls, it won’t actually have much effect on overall bills.
Jess commented: "Radiators still have to be turned on and reach a high temperature for a lengthy period of time to heat a home for the foil to have the desired effect, so this will have a slight impact on the warmth in a room, but the costs will end up being basically the same.
"It is much better to improve the efficiency of a home through ensuring checks are done before radiators are in use and that insulation is sufficient."
Put the thermostat on high in short bursts lowers costs – FALSE
Jess said: "It doesn’t help to turn the thermostat up high to try and heat a room quicker as this only makes the room warmer at the same speed.
"By the time you turn it off this will only cost money without reward as it will not make a house feel warmer at all and raise bills.
"Instead, set a timer for the most common periods you need a warm house such as just before you wake up and when you are relaxing in an evening, but turn this off if the weather is a little warmer than usual during the cold spell."
It's cheaper to heat a house with an electric heater instead of a radiator – FALSE
Despite rising costs, Jess points out that central heating is still more cost efficient than a heater.
“Central heating is a lot cheaper to run than an electric heater, for every unit of heat from a radiator it will cost around three times as much for a unit put out by an electric heater," she explained.
"The only exception is if radiators aren’t turned off in unoccupied rooms, then an electric heater will prove cheaper, but this isn’t being savvy with bills."
Painting radiators black can reduce energy bills – FALSE
This is a common myth built on the idea that black absorbs heat quicker so will transfer heat out at a better rate than white or other coloured radiators.
"The colour of a radiator has no effect on how effective it is because the majority of heat emitted is convective, which can’t be impacted by different shades," Jess said.
"It's more important to insulate walls to prevent heat from leaking out of a home altogether.”
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