Should I turn my boiler off in the summer?
With the warmer weather well and truly here, it’s likely you haven’t been feeling the need to have the heating on all day – particularly with the rising cost of energy. But should you turn off your boiler in the summer? We’ve put together a guide to using your boiler in the summer, and whether it makes sense to switch it off completely during the warmer months.
Is it safe to turn off a combi boiler in the summer?
Whilst it is safe to turn off your combi boiler, there are some things you need to consider. Because combi boilers take care of your hot water as well as your heating needs, you’ll need to leave it switched on during the summer. Even if you don’t want to use your radiators, you’ll still need hot water for washing dishes and bathing.
Combi boilers offer on-demand hot water, meaning that instead of being heated and stored ready for use, the water is only heated as and when it’s needed. This makes the standby operation of a combi boiler incredibly efficient, so leaving them on all the time doesn’t have much of an impact on your energy use.
Is it safe to turn off a system boiler in the summer?
It can be a good idea to turn system boilers off in the summer as it will reduce energy consumption and therefore save you money. System boilers will also be connected to a hot water cylinder, which is used to store a large amount of hot water at temperature, in order to ensure there is a constant supply of available hot water.
This means that if your boiler was switched off, your household would still have a supply of hot water, this would be limited to the cylinder’s capacity, and this wouldn’t be topped up until the boiler was switched back on.
If you have appliances such as electric showers, and modern dishwashers, you might choose to use these instead as they will heat the cold water for you without the need for hot water from your hot water cylinder.
Alternatively, you could consider turning down the boiler thermostat as this will help you save money on your energy bills. However, it’s important to note that water stored in hot water cylinders should be maintained at 60°C to avoid the growth of legionella bacteria which can lead to legionnaire’s disease.
Is it safe to turn off a open vent boiler in the summer?
Modern open vent boilers which are heat-only can be turned off in the summer, but it’s much easier to simply turn the heating controller or thermostat to a minimum. Like system boilers, conventional boilers are often connected to a hot water cylinder. The hot water in your cylinder will not be topped up if you decide to switch your boiler off. For this reason, it can be a good idea to turn your boiler’s thermostat down rather than switching it off completely to ensure you have a constant supply of hot water.
It’s also important to make sure that when you come to turn it back on, it’s working correctly in time for winter.
Should I turn off my boiler completely in the summer?
It depends entirely on what type of boiler you have and if you require hot water in the summer months. That being said, turning your boiler off during the summer can be an easy opportunity to help cut down on energy costs and save money, especially during the current cost of living crisis. Whilst this is dependent on which boiler you have in your home, a connected or smart control can be used with any boiler and will typically provide much greater control of your energy usage.
If you do plan on turning your boiler off over the summer, it’s important to turn it back on for a short period of time every now and then to prevent the valves and pumps from seizing up and to ensure that your boiler is in good working order for the winter
Should I turn off my boiler whilst on holiday?
This largely depends on the time of year you expect to go away. If you are on holiday for a couple of weeks in the summer, it can be a good idea to switch your boiler off. However, it’s not advised to do this in the winter. During the colder weather, it could lead to the pipes freezing over which could cause lasting damage to your pipework. Money Saving Expert suggests that you should keep your heating to at least 12 degrees to avoid any damage to your pipework.
Does turning your boiler off save money?
There has been a lot of debate over this for the past few months, particularly with the rising costs of energy. Unfortunately there is no straightforward answer as it depends on what kind of system you have as well as the age and efficiency of the boiler.
It has been suggested if you have a combi boiler, an alternative way to save money is by reducing the heating flow temperature on your boiler rather than switching it on and off as you need. Research by Salford Energy House discovered that lowering your heating flow temperature from 80°C to 60°C could reduce gas usage by up to 9% resulting in an annual saving of £112 for a typical household.
What temperature should my boiler be set at in summer?
If you decide to keep your boiler on in the summer but you’re looking for ways to save money, then turning down your boiler temperature can be an efficient way to do this. However, as mentioned before, this shouldn’t be set to anything lower than 60°C. Legionella bacteria thrive in temperatures between 20-45°C. But keeping your hot water stored at 60°C will ensure the bacteria doesn’t grow.
Consider installing boiler controls to manage your boiler
Boilers that are paired with connected controls offer many more capabilities for controlling your boiler and energy usage throughout the year, without the need to turn it off and on. This includes holiday mode functions as well as load compensation and weather compensation.
Holiday mode (or away mode) is a feature on many of our connected controls which allows you to set your control to turn your heating off whilst you’re away and back on upon your return. This setting will usually have to be set manually, however, app-based controls such as the MiGo will usually allow you to adjust this on the go via the mobile app.
Controls with the weather compensation feature use an outdoor sensor to monitor the external temperature around the property in order to adjust your flow temperature and keep your boiler working at optimal efficiency.
Another excellent control feature for improving general boiler efficiency is load compensation. This helps your boiler to adjust the boiler output and modulate the temperature in order to only use the energy that is required. This is instead of using large amounts of energy to get your boiler up to temperature over and over again after it drops. Most Glow-worm connected controls offer these features and can help you better manage your energy usage throughout the year and keeping your boiler operating at its most efficient.
Controls with the weather compensation feature use an outdoor sensor to monitor the external temperature around the property in order to adjust your flow temperature and keep your boiler working at optimal efficiency.
Another excellent control feature for improving general boiler efficiency is load compensation. This helps your boiler to adjust the boiler output and modulate the temperature in order to only use the energy that is required. This is instead of using large amounts of energy to get your boiler up to temperature over and over again after it drops. Most Glow-worm connected controls offer these features and can help you better manage your energy usage throughout the year and keep your boiler operating at its most efficient.
Should I get my boiler serviced in the summer?
It might seem counterintuitive to get your boiler serviced during the time of year you’re using it the least. However, the summer is actually a great time to get your boiler serviced.
A summer boiler service allows you to find out whether there are any issues that need to be addressed before the cold weather sets in. There’s nothing worse than switching on your heating on a cold day only to find out it’s not working, therefore, a summer boiler service will give you plenty of time to get any maintenance and repairs taken care of before it becomes a problem.