As freezing temperatures sweep the nation, and with another recent energy price cap rise, Brits are searching for ways to keep their homes warm for less.

With lots of guidance spanning across social media and online, it’s important not to put things in place that won’t help lower bills.

With that in mind, an expert has discredited some of the most popular but incorrect advice.

Jess Steele, heating technology expert at designer radiator specialists BestHeating has debunked five of the biggest myths that people are incorrectly following, explaining why these won’t reduce bills whilst keeping a house warm.

Leave the heating on low all day to lower bills

Jess says: “It is wrong to believe that having the heating on low all day will use less energy than the boiler turning on and off, as this will cause bills to rise, particularly if your home has poor insulation.

"Instead, you should only use the heating when it is needed so it is only on for a few hours per day. A long-term solution is to ensure the home is properly insulated as this will keep energy in your home for longer and reduce bills.”

Turn the thermostat on high in short bursts

At the other end of the spectrum, Jess says it doesn’t help to put the thermostat up for short periods to heat a room quicker: “This only makes the room warmer at the same speed and won’t reap any rewards other than higher bills.

"Instead, set a timer for the most common periods you need a warm house such as just before you wake up and when you are relaxing in the evening, but turn this off if the weather is a little warmer than usual during a cold spell.”

It is cheaper to heat a house with an electric heater instead of a radiator

Electric heating has become more popular over the past couple of years, but despite higher gas bills, Jess points out that central heating radiators are still a better option.

“Central heating is a lot more cost-efficient to run compared to an electric heater as every unit of heat will cost around three times as much. Also, whilst radiators can be turned off once the desired temperature is reached and retain heat around the room for a long period of time, the heat from electric heaters will be lost much quicker.”

Painting radiators black can reduce energy bills

Whilst black is known to absorb heat quicker than lighter colours, many wrongly believe that this will transfer heat out at a better rate than white radiators.

Jess says: “The colour of a radiator will not affect how well it distributes heat because the majority of heat emitted is convective, which can’t be impacted by different shades.

"Instead, the heat output will only be significantly impacted depending on the reflectiveness of the finish, so a shinier surface will mean a lower heat output.”

It is better to have a big boiler than a small one

There is an assumption that a larger boiler will work better than a smaller one, but Jess warns this isn’t always the case: “If you have an overly large boiler in relation to the size of your property, then this will cause heating bills to be higher because there will be lots of wasted energy.

"This is because the amount of heat given out by a boiler is determined by the size of the radiators. Similarly, you also don’t want oversized radiators for the size of the room because this will again increase bills from wasted energy.”