Londoners, like the rest of the UK, are about to fall victim to huge energy hikes which are only on the increase as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues. Households have been warned that energy bills could further soar to over £4000 a year in England, Wales and Scotland by October, with prices spiking by at least 30 per cent partly due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Londoners, like many over the country, will be worried about the increase in energy prices and while households have received an indication of the price cap increase they can expect, financial support for homeowners is still lacking across the country.
Energy performance experts from Bionic have given MyLondon tips on how to keep energy prices the lowest they can be in this tough time. They gave multiple different tips and gave some easy ways energy and money can be saved.
READ MORE: Londoners could face £4,000 energy bills as costs to increase in coming months
Ofgem has announced that the energy price cap is to rise because of soaring wholesale gas prices
(Image: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire)
Draught-Proof Your Premises
If you work on ensuring your premises are well insulated, then there will be less need for expensive heating costs. Draught-proofing doors and windows is a cheap but effective way to save money on gas and electric bills.
You can buy equipment online to do this which comes at only around £2. You can see more here.
Request An Energy Audit
By taking part in an energy audit, you’re ensuring that you know exactly where you are using the most and how you can cut this down. It’ll help you take full control of your spending.
Many energy suppliers offer audits to help you pinpoint exactly where you can save power and how you can do this.
Assess When You’re Heating Your Premises
Most homeowners pay a standard tariff to heat their premises during the day as they do during the night, and could be wasting money by heating unused rooms during the day. You could save hours of energy by only heating the building when you need to.
Simply set the timer on the thermostat to start the heating at certain times. Another simple yet effective energy saving tip is to turn your heating down by one degree.
Just taking your thermostat down a notch is a quick way to start saving fast and you probably won’t even notice the tiny temperature difference.
This one small action only takes seconds to carry out and could potentially slash your heating bills by as much as 10%.
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Checking when your thermostat is set for is an easy way to save a bit of cash
(Image: ANDY RAIN/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
Pay Attention To The Weather
Take a closer look at your thermostats and adjust them according to the weather conditions outside. If it’s a warmer, sunnier day and rooms don’t need to be heated, then turn the thermostat down and you’ll be saving money in no time.
Be Mindful of Water Costs
60°C is the optimum temperature for hot water, so if you notice that you’re running water that’s hotter than that, you could be wasting energy. You could also think about installing touch-free taps in toilets so you can be using water more efficiently too.
Don’t be tempted to switch energy supplier
Under normal circumstances, it does pay off to shop around and compare gas and electricity prices on different tariffs and with different suppliers as you could save a lot of money and put that back into the value of your home.
The trouble is, a combination of soaring gas prices and the energy price cap means that switching suppliers now probably won’t save you a penny.
This is because any new fixed rate deals will be quoted at the current rates, while the energy price cap puts a limit on how much suppliers can charge on their standard variable rate tariffs – the one you’re put on if you let a fixed rate deal expire.
As things stand, it’s probably best to sit tight until prices come back down to a reasonable level. And remember, if your energy supplier goes bust, the Ofgem Safety Net means you’ll automatically be transferred to another supplier with no disruption to your gas and electricity supply.
Ed Whitworth, Head of Energy Performance at Bionic, has explained the turbulent situation:
“It’s been a turbulent six months for energy customers, and the Russia/Ukraine conflict looks set to increase uncertainty in the energy market even further.
“This is because energy prices are affected by things that are happening across the globe – anything from a conflict to a natural disaster in a country that produces oil or gas can affect how much we pay to heat our homes and power business here in the UK.
“Europe sourced more than 40% of gas imports from Russia in 2021 and conflict in Ukraine could seriously disrupt this supply and push up prices.”
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