As Ofgem's energy price cap rises by 4% in October, a homeowner has shared a tip on Reddit for reducing heating costs using a piece of A4 paper. The annual energy bill for a typical household paying by direct debit for gas and electricity will rise by £60, from £1,663 to £1,723 – equivalent to around £5 more per month.
Reddit user's draught test
The Reddit user, commenting under the username u/epicmindwarp, said they increased the warmth of their home for £50 after using a piece of A4 paper to test door and window frames in their hallway for draughts. They said the temperature inside their property would drop to 14C in winter and would struggle to rise up to 17C even with the heating on for three hours.
"My house has always been cold and given the energy situation we've had to adjust our daily routines to not bankrupt ourselves this winter," they said.
Finding the source of drafts
The Reddit user said they paid close attention to cold areas in their house, noticing there was a "very gentle" breeze around the edges of their windows and door frames. "After some checking, I quickly realised that the PVC rubber seals had got so stiff from age they weren't doing their job - so a 1mm gap would form between the stiff seal and the PVC instead of being sealed - allowing cold air to pass in," they said.
The Reddit user urged others to test if they have a gap in their seals by sliding a piece of paper between the seal and the frame or door. If the paper can easily get through, then air can get through too, according to the homeowner.
Cost of the fix
They said that after buying new rubber seals to replace the old ones, the hallway felt warmer than before at a cost of £50. "It's currently 2C outside and I've run the heating once today. Assuming the cold weather holds, I could make that money back in a week. The first step in saving money is cutting costs, so finding the source of drafts and sorting that out has made a huge difference all round," they said.
