Households told to turn boiler temperatures down to cut energy bills in £18m campaign

Labour criticised the move as a ‘reheated announcement with no new resources’

Households are being told to turn their boiler temperatures down to reduce energy bills in a new £18 million government campaign.

Reducing boiler flow temperatures from 75C to 60C and turning down radiators in empty rooms could save a typical household £160 per year, according to the guidance to be published on the help for households website.

The government also unveiled a £1bn scheme to make middle-income homes more energy efficient on Monday.

But Labour claims the “reheated” announcement is "far too little too late".

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It comes just weeks after the government warned average energy bills would rise to £3,000 a year from spring.

The public information campaign includes other tips on how to reduce costs, including draught-proofing rooms to save around £70 a year.

This can be done by blocking unwanted gaps around windows, doors and floorboards where warm air could escape.

A previous attempt to introduce a public information campaign on energy-saving measures was blocked under Liz Truss’s administration over concerns they were too "nanny state".

Grant Shapps, the business secretary, said it would help people in the short-term to reduce energy use and keep warm over winter.

The separate, £1bn Eco+ scheme extends support for insulating homes.

Hundreds of thousands could receive loft and cavity wall insulation under the scheme, which is predominantly targeted at households that do not currently get support to upgrade homes.

A fifth of the funding will be aimed at the most vulnerable.

But shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband said: "This reheated announcement with no new resources, is far too little too late and will help only a tiny fraction of the millions of people facing a cost-of-living emergency this winter”

Greenpeace UK energy campaigner Georgia Whitaker warned the funding was not nearly enough as nearly seven million homes are suffering fuel poverty, while 19 million homes in England and Wales were badly insulated.

"This is a drop in the ocean compared to what people actually need to stay warm and well this winter and in the winters to come," she said.

Mr Shapps said: "A new Eco scheme will enable thousands more to insulate their homes, protecting the pounds in their pockets and creating jobs across the country.”

The government has set an ambition of reducing energy use by 15 per cent by 2030 as it battles the spiking energy prices caused by Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

Additional reporting by Press Association