Martin Lewis’ rule to keep heating costs down this winter - 4.11pm on Sunday

Detailed summary

Martin Lewis has revealed an easy technique for keeping your household warm this winter. The UK energy price cap increased by 3.6% (rounded to 4%) on October 1, bringing the…

Martin Lewis has revealed an easy technique for keeping your household warm this winter. The UK energy price cap increased by 3.6% (rounded to 4%) on October 1, bringing the average annual bill for a typical dual-fuel household paying by monthly Direct Debit to £1,723. As freezing months are approaching, people are looking to optimise for heating up their homes without breaking the bank. According to the MoneySavingExpert founder, there is one trick to easily do just that – and it requires making one minor adjustment at approximately 4-4.15pm.

On his ITV programme, he explained how households can deploy their curtains tactically to help retain warmth within their homes. His guidance is straightforward – "use tactical curtains". This means keeping your curtains drawn back while the sun is shining, then closing them once darkness falls.

Lewis said: "You ask. Should I keep the curtains closed? When the sun is shining, that has radiating energy. Radiating energy coming in that heats your home. So, you want the curtains open. Soon as it gets dark, you're shutting them because you want to trap that heat energy inside your house. That's what tactical curtains means."

The exact sunset time will vary depending where you live, but in London the sunset time will be 4.11pm on Sunday, November 15 according to Time and Date.com.

He added: "One really important thing, your curtains should be behind the radiator, not in front of the radiator. Or then the radiators are just heating the back of the curtains."

Lewis also recommended that homes consider fitting reflective panels behind radiators – bouncing warmth back into living spaces rather than letting it leak through exterior walls.

He said: "A tip for you reflective panels behind radiators. Sheets of reflective material can be placed behind radiators. Crucially, this is on external wall radiators, so the heat doesn't escape. If you don't want to pay for those, then tin foil can work, although it doesn't work quite as well."

Opening of the article, excerpted from Daily Express. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.