Recent years have been problematic; whilst wage increases have stalled, the cost of living has not.  Fuel, food and household bills have all risen significantly in recent times, whilst many have received below-inflation increases to their pay packets.

That means for most people, budgets are getting tighter and tighter, but for some of us they’ve reached breaking point; more than 4 million UK households are thought to be living in ‘fuel poverty’, being left unable to afford to keep their house warm during the cold winter months.

Fuel poverty leads to devastating consequences; The Office of National Statistics has shown that in recent years, cold homes killed over four times as many people as road and rail accidents and nearly four times as many people as drug misuse.

It also leads to health issues both physical and psychological; the former Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey said that: ‘The link between bad health and fuel poverty is undeniable.’

Fuel poverty is thought to be a contributing factor for many people suffering with respiratory diseases, heart diseases and circulatory diseases in particular. It’s also thought to put additional strain on NHS services, increasing repeat visits to GPs and admissions to hospital.

Living in a cold home has bad effects on mental health too; studies have shown direct links between living in fuel poverty and depression, anxiety and social isolation; people struggling to pay their bills are four times more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression according to a 2011 study.

With all that stress to deal with, it can be hard to think of ways to alleviate the problem and find a way to get yourself out of fuel poverty and make your bills more affordable, without spending thousands of pounds on a more efficient boiler…

Consider our CombiSave

Our CombiSave device can help you reduce the amount of water and gas used in the initial heating process.

Rather than replacing the whole boiler, the ‘fit and forget’ device is installed on to your existing pipework close to the combi-boiler in just minutes. It can save you up to £250 a year, which could really make a difference to getting out of fuel poverty!

Once fitted, it restricts the flow of water until it’s reached the correct heat, potentially saving 28,000 litres of water each year and plenty of gas.

How does it work?

The device restricts the flow of water until it has reached the required heat, potentially saving 28,000 litres of water each year and plenty of gas — some people have saved as much as £250 per year with it!

What’s the science behind it?

Imagine your boiler currently takes just over a minute to heat your water to a usable 45 degrees and ten litres runs through it in that time.

By comparison, a CombiSave would slow the flow of water to three litres a minute while taking 40 seconds for the water to warm up — you’re saving substantial amounts of water and heating time, which adds up to plenty of money each year.

Fuel poverty is a tough issue to overcome, but you can start to overcome it with a proactive approach that doesn’t cost the earth. If you want to start saving water, gas, time and money, find out more about the CombiSave here: https://www.teddingtonheating.com/combisave/