Loyalty? Schmoyalty! Start Playing The Game

Doubtless you, like many people, crack a wry smile whenever the ever increasing cost of energy becomes (yet again) a news item. Because escalating fuel bills are not exactly news – more a painful and chronic fact of modern life.

But you don’t actually have to take any of this lying down. So rather than grudgingly accede to the next round of rapacious demands from whichever of the energy cartel supplies your gas and/or electricity, you can take steps to protect your wallet.

As is often the case when trying to rescue your hard earned loot from becoming an involuntary contribution to some rascal’s “performance” bonus, it’s best to mount a two-pronged attack. In this case the twin strategies are: use less and also pay less for what you do use.

Starting with the latter approach, unless you have already wrung the absolutely last drop out of the best deal available then you need to get online and on the telephone to find out what the best options are for your specific circumstances.

This will vary from household to household and also according to where you live. But start by checking reputable comparison sites that have specialist utility sections, such as for example BeatThatQuote and MoneySupermarket to see which suppliers offer a better deal than the one you’re currently on. Obviously, you will first need to dig out your previous utility statements in order to supply your existing figures as a basis for comparison.

When you do find a likely looking alternative den of thieves energy supplier then check them out a little further, since these days most suppliers offer significant discounts for dual fuel arrangements (taking both gas and electricity from the same supplier), going paperless (which means that everything is done via email and/or your account on their website and also often means that YOU have to read the meters and send in the readings), and paying by direct debit.

Note though that while individual energy providers discount their own offers for dual fuel, you can sometimes find a better deal by choosing gas from one supplier and electricity from another. The savings to be had by switching vary enormously but for Jo Average on a standard tariff the saving can be in the order of £300 per year.

Generate Your Own Domestic Power

Ultimately of course, one of the best ways to avoid lining someone else’s pockets in order to gain access to electricity is generating your own and these days that’s not as bonkers as it sounds. Installing domestic solar panels can save you tens of thousands over their lifespan (twenty years plus) and ultimately almost eradicate your electricity bills. Follow the link to find out more since this is rather more involved than your might think, but it is nevertheless entirely feasible and a serious proposition for many people (especially wealthier households which often have huge electricity bills but also access to the funds necessary to buy into this scheme).

In addition to photovoltaic solar panels for generating electricity, you can also use thermal solar energy to heat your living spaces and hot water. After all, why waste energy converting light to electricity and then into heat when the sun provides it directly anyway. One of the commonest ways to harness this free heat is through a “solar collector” which stores the sun’s energy in the form of hot water. This can then be fed to the normal hot water cylinder and even radiators if there is sufficient capacity.

Another low cost and also low-carbon way to provide heating and cooking facilities is to use wood as a fuel. It may surprise you to learn that out-of-control fuel prices are not a phenomenon unique to the modern world. Way back in the latter part of the 18th Century it was a dire shortage of firewood in the burgeoning city of Philadelphia that led directly to the development of the Franklin wood stove. And good old log burners are still very much alive and well today, albeit with some serious contemporary updates to efficiency and aesthetic appeal. Do be sure to check that link out carefully though – there’s more to this than just buying a shiny new wood stove, but it can make a dramatic difference to your energy bills.

Just Hang On To What You’ve Got

No matter where you do source your energy from though, it is an increasingly precious resource and one you would be wise not to squander lightly. Yet many do…

At home we typically use energy for heating, hot water, cooking, lighting and running domestic appliances. In each case there are simple unobtrusive measures you can take to ensure you waste as little energy as possible yet still enjoy your normal home comforts.

Where heating is concerned then insulation is the silent killer. When you have to pay extortionate amounts of money to heat your home in the winter then you might as well burn bank notes in the grate if you don’t do everything possible to prevent that heat disappearing. Only a very few (and certifiably mad) people would deliberately set out to heat their back garden but that’s pretty much what many people inadvertently end up doing as a result of poor insulation.

Which is silly when you consider that anyone (whether you rent or own your property) is eligible for a substantial government grant towards the cost of both loft and cavity wall insulation. These can be as high as 100% of the cost fully paid for you (depending on eligibility – follow the link to check) but in any event absolutely no lower than 50% for anyone at all regardless of their status.

For an average household, upgrading their insulation to modern standards can produce savings of up to around £250 per year. Whatever your current annual expenditure on fuel, that’s not to be sniffed at. And of course your home will stay warmer in winter and cooler in summer, so it’s hard to see what’s not to like. Astonishingly though, there are still 5,000,000 folk in the UK who could benefit from free insulation grants but have not yet done anything about it. This is FREE money people – just go to the link above and click on the word “Apply”.

There are other insulation measures that might help also, in particular windows. If your glazing is pretty ancient then you will be astonished what a difference modern energy efficient glazing can make. And for the good old “average household” then that’s another £160 savings per year – this is starting to add up nicely isn’t it? Obviously, replacing windows is expensive but if yours are grotty single glazed (think old fashioned 1930′s Crittal steel framed) windows then it’s one of those things where the longer you leave it the more it will end up costing you.

Make Your Energy Go Further

If you want to do something simple like, for example, illuminate your kitchen at night and you have a choice between spending about £140 annually in order to this or spending more like £16 instead, then which are you going to plump for? The £16 figure yeah?

Well I’m afraid I don’t believe you because if you’re like most people then you don’t really know how much the wonder of electric lighting is actually costing you and therefore you don’t see why you should do something about it. You may very well not be like most people (in which case, apologies…) but statistically that assessment is going to be accurate more often than not.

But those two figures (£140 vs £16) are not plucked out of thin air – that’s the genuine difference between a regular kitchen lit using a mere ten 50 watt halogen lamps and the same space lit just as brightly using ten GU10 LED bulbs. Astounding isn’t it? Image how much you could save if you did the same for the whole house?

So to get even more bang for your buck then start switching over to LED light bulbs pronto. Yes, they’re more expensive to buy and you do need to be careful about what exactly you do buy since there is a wide discrepancy in performance among what’s out there. But they last for ages (decades in fact) and save such a huge amount of energy (we’re talking TEN TIMES LESS) that the sooner you start switching over to LED the sooner you will reap the rewards.

But once you become familiar with LED lamps and have found some that suit you personally (lighting is a highly subjective matter after all) then just get into a routine of always replacing the next dead incandescent bulb with an LED one. Soon enough you will all switched over to ultra low energy lighting without noticing the cost so much.

But lighting isn’t the only energy hog in your home – many common domestic appliances were designed for a bygone era when no one much cared about the cost of fuel. So again, whenever an item starts looking like it might have seen considerably better days then look to replace it with an energy efficiency A rated modern version.

Another investment you might want to consider is an energy monitor which won’t in and of itself save you a penny, but it can help you understand how you use energy and, more to the point, how you can use less. Like all “feedback” devices, the purpose of energy monitors is to help you change your behavior by helping to make you more aware regarding energy use.

In Summary…

So that’s Kat’s typically simple, step by step guide to surviving energy price hikes.

• Consider switching supplier – check it out at any decent comparison site.
• If you’re affluent enough to afford the upfront investment then get on board with the government’s solar panel feed in tariff.
• Ensure you’re properly insulated to modern standards – the government will pay at least half and possibly all the costs.
• Stop using little electric heaters to provide your lighting – invest in LED light bulbs.
• Every time you replace a domestic appliance make energy efficiency the absolute top priority for your next purchase.
• Get an energy monitor and get addicted to rooting out what’s costing you so much money!

Written October 2011 by KuleKat Last updated April 2012