Heating systems 'working hard to compensate heat loss'

Properties throughout the UK have been found to be leaking valuable heat, with the problem becoming particularly bad during the recent cold snap much of the country experienced.

According to research from Faithful+Gould, part of the Atkins engineering design group, £1.2 billion worth of heat more was leaked by the UK's offices and domestic homes over the recent two-week period of snow and freezing weather, in comparison to a normal winter.

When the temperature drops into the minuses, heat loss increases and the group asserts this cash estimate is in fact "conservative" given the recent freezing weather.

Ellie Horwitch-Smith, an energy management expert the group, states: "As outside temperatures fall, the cold truth is that already inefficient buildings perform increasingly badly as heating systems struggle to maintain the indoor temperatures demanded of them."

She recommends that improving household insulation through retrofitting could be one way of combating heat loss.

And in order to avoid high energy bills when the temperature drops, Britons may also wish to make their central heating systems more efficient.

The Energy Saving Trust claims this can be achieved by having a condensing boiler and heating controls installed, which could help to reduce annual utility bills by over £200.