Octopus Energy customers will be up to £145 richer after making one simple household change this winter. According to the leading energy supplier, which serves around 7.3 million UK households, adjusting your heating thermostat by just one degree will result in significant savings on your energy bill.

Now that November has arrived and the countdown to Christmas is well and truly on, the crisp autumn chill in the air means many homes will be switching on the heating this month, and with the long winter months still to come, keeping warm can be an expensive business. But Octopus Energy says turning your thermostat down by one degree can yield savings of up to £145 on your energy bill, and as it’s such a small change, your home shouldn’t feel much colder.

Rather than adjusting your thermostat every time you feel cold, experts recommend setting it at a specific temperature and leaving it at this level. This avoids wasting energy and is an easy way to cut down on your heating costs.

The energy supplier said: “Tweaking your thermostat (using it as an on/off switch or boost for example) can mean more energy is wasted – you’ll be comfier and use your energy more efficiently if you set it and leave it on for when you need it. 

“Setting your thermostat to somewhere between 18-21C is ideal, and turning down the temperature by just 1 degree could save up to £145 on your energy bill.”

The NHS says the ideal temperature to set your thermostat is at least 18C to stay healthy in winter and to protect against the cold, although the elderly may benefit from a slightly warmer setting.

But according to the Energy Saving Trust, even if your heating is normally set higher at around 22C, simply lowering this by one degree will make a huge difference to your energy costs and it won’t massively reduce the warmth of your home.

Experts recommend using a timer or programmer so you can control when your heating comes on and when it goes off, meaning you aren’t running it and racking up costs when you don’t need to.

It is generally advised that you set the central heating programme to come on around half an hour before you get up and to turn off around half an hour before you go to bed.

The money-saving advice comes as energy bills increased for more than seven million households on standard energy tariffs in October when Ofgem’s new price cap took effect.

The energy regulator raised its price cap by 2% on October 1 taking the average bill for households in England, Scotland and Wales paying by direct debit for gas and electricity up from £1,720 per year to £1,755.

The price cap sets the maximum rate per unit and standing charge that customers can be charged by suppliers for their energy use but not the total bill, so those who use more energy ultimately pay more.

While the price cap doesn’t affect households on fixed tariffs, it still pays to cut costs where you can and adjusting your thermostat is one of the easiest ways to save money.