THERE could be a hidden 'summer mode' on your boiler that could save you up to £250.
Most boilers have a built-in summer setting which means you can turn off the central heating and still get hot water on demand.
The summer setting should be easy to find on most modern boilers and taking advantage of it could save you a substantial amount of cash.
According to Nicolas and James Auckland at Trade Radiators turning your boiler to summer mode could save you up to 10% on your annual bill in just three months.
They estimate that based on an average three-bedroom house with three occupants and an annual gas bill of £2,500, approx 50% of the bill is used for heating water for showers, baths, etc.
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By turning to summer mode, using the example above a household of that size could save £250.
Nicholas, said: "Most modern combination boilers will have a built-in summer setting, which turns off the central heating system and provides hot water on demand.
"This allows for the best of both worlds by saving energy and maximising comfort without compromising on your hot water supply."
They also recommend that for a "good balance of warmth and efficiency" you should set your boiler to at least 65°C.
James added: "Setting it a few degrees higher won't hurt, but it is important not to set it any lower than that.
"This is so the bacteria in the water doesn't grow, and cause nasty things like Legionella."
They recommend using the boiler to heat the water, even in the summer, as the immersion heater will be more expensive and should only be used as an emergency backup.
Other ways to save in summer on your energy
There are plenty of ways to reduce your energy bill and some of them are pretty simple.
Summer is a good time to think about ditching your tumble dryer and using a washing line instead.
But keep an eye on how much you might be spending on other things that you wouldn't normally use in the winter.
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Electric fans and hot tubs can soon get the bills soaring and could easily cancel out any savings you might make.
The average tub costs £140 a month to run if you use it for just 30 minutes a day, according to comparison site uswitch.com.
And running a 70-watt fan for 12 hours a night will cost you around 23½p.
That means having your fan on every night for a week would add up to £1.64, and £7.28 over a month.
A smart meter could help you to keep an eye on the costs, it is free to install and usually provided by your energy supplier.
In the hot weather, you might also find that you are showering more than usual.
According to uswitch.com a ten-minute shower uses around 1.42kWh of energy, costing around 40p a time – £146 a year if you shower daily.
But if you shower twice a day for half the year, that will go up to £219.
An eco shower head could reduce your costs. It uses water more efficiently and could halve the amount going down the drain.
Consumer group Which? says you can see if you will benefit from one by putting a two-litre container in your shower tray.
If it takes less than 12 seconds to fill when the shower is running on full, an eco shower head might help.
As we start to spend longer in the garden in the evening, outdoor lighting may look nice but bear in mind the running costs.
Keeping two 60-watt outside lights on for ten hours a night could cost you £125 a year, according to Loop, an energy-saving app.
There are plenty of energy-saving options out there, such as solar-powered lights, so look out for those first if you want to keep your costs down.
Here we have listed how much it costs to run appliances in the home.
And also have a full list of energy-saving tips that could slash your bills by up to £1,666 this year.
