articles Category: How to reduce your energy bills How to reduce your energy bills
How to reduce your energy bills |
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How much? It's daylight robbery!
This situation is becomming ever more common, with the advent of unjustified price hikes in our utility bills. When oil prices rise, we see sharp rises in our fuel bills, and especially on the petrol forecourts. Yet, when oil goes down from $147/barrel as it was in July 08 to £70/barrel (June 09), there seems to be a significant lag in the lowering of fuel prices. So how do we combat such apparent 'twisting of our arms' by the oil oligarchs, cabals and utility companies! The first thing to do is challenge your utility company. Many companies offer capped fuel charges; but it is seems that such promises of no fuel price hikes until 2010 not affectiing you is more of a marketing ploy to entice new customers, than any actual real promise of not increasing your fuel bills. Nearly nine million households (one in three) in the UK - have been billed incorrectly by their energy company in the past two years, according to price comparison site uSwitch.com. Payments only match usage on a quarter of bills, with 40% of households owed money by their supplier (the average being £58). Only 26% are in debt to the supplier, meaning utilitiy companies are sitting on extra cash. Part of the problem lies in the calculation of estimated bills. The utility companies guestimate the average consumption for a household based on the most minimal of factors; such as number of bedrooms, how good is your home's insulation, how often do you cook, and how often electricity is used at home. Performing a price comparison check on gas and electricity, for an average 2-bedroomed semi-detached house, the gas & electricity bill is estimated to be in the region of £64 per month. In reality though, most utility companies will let you sign up to such a great offer, and then several months later, will contact you demanding that your bill be increased to £140 per month. Quite a price hike; 150% increase. The problem lies in the fact that the majority of energy suppliers base their usage figures from the days of pre-technology. According to uSwitch the average cost of a 2-bedroomed family home is 1875kWh of electricity per year. This equates to just 5kWh electricity per day. As a household, we monitor our energy consumption daily using an energy monitor. We typically use 15kWh per day. One computer alone uses 100W of energy per hour, so the figure of 5kW daily consumption is frankly luducrous. The way in which energy companies cleverly entice us, by offering cost effective bundle packages is simple sleight of hand marketing tactics. They are fully aware that the average household has a multitude of electronic equipment, including one or two computers, a couple of TVs (one most likely to be LCD or Plasma), games consoles, and then there's cooking, heating, and lighting to add on top. We can quickly see that 5KW a day consumption for the average family household is simply farcical. So what can we do about this pandemic!!! For those who opt to pay by cash or pre-payment meters and use paper bills, they will pay more than those managing their bills online or by direct debit. Some 5.4 million Brits, use a pre-payment meter to pay fuel bills, which operates in the same way as a pay-as-you-go mobile phone. However, if you as a consumer attempt to reduce your utility bills and become actively 'green', then you will informed by your energy supplier that you will be charged extra if your bill falls below a certain threshold, typically if you use less than £9 a week, then expect to pay a surcharge of 54p (6%) for being energy conscious. Yet, the UK Government is meant to encourage you to save energy, but you get penalized when you do. National Energy Action (NEA), the energy awareness group, said pre-payment-metered customers pay on average £359 more a year than those with normal meters. While those with standard meters paying quarterly bills by cash pay around £250 more than those with online tariffs. On a good note, Baroness Judith Wilcox, Shadow Minister for Energy and Climate Change, is lobbying the Government to force the energy companies into fairer billing systems:
Industry regulator Ofgem has launched an inquiry and also issued a warning to the energy companies to improve communication with customers. It is now investigating billing practices. It is now time the energy companies played fair, they have had their fill of healthy profit at the cost of the average law abiding tax payer. It is time, we the consumer started voting with our feet and our voices. Actions to take: -
Information: - For more information on finding out how to reduce your energy bills, visit: -
EcoSaver Energy Monitor only £12.49 |
Have you ever received a letter from your energy supplier informing you that your monthly direct debit payemnts were being increased by a significant amount - despite the fact you are in credit!
