Martin Lewis urges Brits to make purchase which is 'far cheaper than putting the heating on'

With summer well and truly over, many of us are already questioning how soon is too soon to put the heating on.

While it’s no fun being sat in a freezing cold room, the ever increasing cost of living is enough to make most of us think twice before touching the thermostat.

Although we recently saw a decrease in the energy price cap, taking it down to £1,923 from £2,074, most of us are still paying a lot more than we did a couple of years back.

And if you’re using your heating to help dry your clothes then you could be chucking money away - not to mention putting your home at risk of growing mould, which can be seriously damaging to your health.

But fear not, as Martin Lewis has shared a much cheaper way of drying your clothes indoors, that is ‘far far cheaper' than putting the heating on or using a tumble dryer - which can cost up to a £1 an hour to run.

TikTok/martinlewismse

Speaking on his podcast, the Money Saving Expert recommended getting a dehumidifier, if you can afford one, as a cheaper option to chucking the heating on.

He said: “Many dehumidifiers have different wattages, the one I checked out was 200 watts (w).

“Once we know it’s 200w and we know a kilowatt (kw) is 1,000w, which is how electricity tends to be priced, we know this is a fifth of a kilowatt.

"And you pay roughly 34p per kw per hour. A fifth is 7p so you’re going to pay roughly 7p per hour to run a dehumidifier at 200w assuming it uses full power the whole time. Which is generally far, far cheaper than putting the heating on.

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“If a dehumidifier does work for you it will definitely have lower electricity bills but of course you do have the initial capital outlay of buying a dehumidifier and see how that works for you.”

But if you do decide to put your heating on there are ways you can make it a bit cheaper for yourself.

Jess Steele, heating technology expert at BestHeating said: “20.8°C is the average thermostat setting in the UK, but 18°C should keep you comfortably warm throughout the colder months. This can save up to 10% on a fuel bill or an estimated £80.

"A clever way to assess if the heating is too warm is to turn the thermostat down by one °C and see how you feel.”

The expert also advised to only heat the rooms that are being used and to not waste energy when you are not in the home.

Topics: Money, Martin Lewis

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]