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In our kind of climate, being able to rely on an efficient heating system is indispensable throughout the year. Or just about, as we cannot rule out high outdoor temperatures from June to September.
So what do you do with your heating during summer?
Heating is one of the biggest expenses in anyone’s household budget. On average, around half the energy bills of households go towards room and hot water heating. Thankfully, there are any number of things you can do – big and small – to cut down your electric and gas bills.
Making the most of the warmth of summer is just one of these ways. Switching off the heating during summer, or taking it out of ‘winter mode’, will prevent energy from being wasted on heating your home at a time when nature itself provides plenty of warmth. Obviously your boiler will continue to generate hot water for domestic use. If you want to cut down on this kind of heating as well, consider a solar boiler which will heat water for bathroom and kitchen use on free solar energy.
For all of that … Belgian summers are no real match for the kind of summers seen in Spain or the south of France. Even in July and August, the odd bleak and chilly day can make for an unpleasant surprise. If your home is insufficiently insulated – which remains the case for a great many homes in Belgium – you will soon miss your heating.
To avoid nasty surprises, during summer set your thermostat in such a way that your boiler will deliver gentle added heat as soon as the temperature falls below a certain point. Set the minimum temperature to around 19 to 21 degrees during the day. At night, temperatures should be a few degrees less.
Please note: do not switch on the heating when it is rather cool in the morning, when you have heard the weather forecast saying a heat wave is about to kick in that day!
A properly insulated home barely needs any heating during the warmest months of the year. Ventilating your home on the other hand becomes all the more important during summer. Just aerating the rooms by opening the doors and windows will not cut it to replace the spent indoor air with healthy outside air though. For that, you are better off calling on a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery.
