There is nothing worse than being cold in your own home. Plus, the chances are that if you’re feeling a chill, your children will be too, which is even worse.
For this reason, it is important to make sure your family home has a fully-functional and efficient central heating system installed, especially for when winter rolls back around.
At the same time though, you don’t want having a cosy home to come at the price of having your energy bills shooting through the roof.
Most families will stick to the more common methods of heating their home, simply because they are unaware of the alternatives. Being aware of your options though could give you the opportunity to save energy and money whilst staying cosy – it’s a win-win!
To help you figure out how best to heat your home, let’s take a look at a range of options that families have for their domestic heating.
The range of heating options for family homes…
Oil heating
Let’s start with oil central heating. This method is perfect for you and your family if your home is in a more rural area, i.e. the middle of nowhere, or is larger than the average house. It is a great alternative for homes that aren’t on the national grid so don’t have access to gas heating systems. It isn’t only families that live in the country that can/should use this method though, all you need is enough space for an oil storage tank to be installed.
This is a great way to heat your home if you feel like you are spending loads on energy bills each month, despite not using your heating very often. No one wants their money to go down the drain. Heating oil is highly efficient as a significant amount of heat is given off per unit, compared to the less efficient methods like electric heating.
Of course, there are initial costs involved with oil heating if you need a full oil heating system installing, but once this is done, you can rest easy knowing you can save money on your energy bills.
Rix specialise in providing high-quality heating oil for a range of clients across the UK. They can carry you through the whole process of oil heating, from installation to maintenance and the regular supply of your heating oil. What’s more, their domestic heating oil prices are very reasonable, but by no means is this reflected in the quality of their oil and heating systems.
Gas heating
Another heating method which you may already use or know about is gas central heating. This is a common method due to most houses being connected to the national grid these days. Gas heating is similar to oil heating in that it is an efficient method of heating, if the system installed in your house is maintained properly. Many homes were fitted with gas central heating systems years ago so may have lost their touch, so to speak. Having a gas boiler that is many years old and no longer efficient can actually affect your energy bills a lot, so make sure to check yours regularly.
Gas heating may be a good idea as, due to it being the most popular method, there are many gas companies out there, so you can shop around with prices and find yourself the best deal.
Solar heating
We are all becoming increasingly aware of the damage we are doing to our environment – and rightly so. As a result, we should be factoring this into our decisions about how to heat our homes as some methods do far more damage than others.
A great option to consider is having some solar panels installed on the roof of your family home. If you haven’t seen them around before, don’t worry, they are not huge monstrosities, they are simple flat panels that absorb heat energy and use it to warm up your home.
Understandably, it will depend on where you live as to whether you can use solar power as your main heating system. You can, however, use it alongside other methods, such as oil heating or gas heating, to save you money on your energy bills when possible.
Electric heating
Finally, there are electric heating methods, which use electricity to create heat energy, rather than gas or oil. Sometimes, if you live in an apartment block or new-build house, electric heating is your only option. However, it is definitely not the cheapest way to keep a cosy home, so if you can you should choose a more efficient alternative like oil heating.
Electric heating tends to cost more because it takes a lot longer to heat up a room – electric heaters produce hot air to warm you up, rather than heating up oil or water to give off heat.
Hopefully, you now understand the options that are available to you for heating up your family home. As you can see, just because one heating method is more commonly used, it may not be the right one for your house. There are many factors that can influence which you use, such as house size, location, when the house was built, your budget, and much more!
