Your heating bills might be one of the last things on your mind at the moment, but you may end up paying over the odds if you ignore them this summer.
Centrica, which owns British Gas, recently hinted it would soon increase its customers’ energy bills as the cost of wholesale gas has risen.
E.ON then saw the opportunity to win favour with customers by announcing it wouldn’t increase its residential energy bills at all throughout 2012.
‘I want every family in the UK to know that we will always do our best to be fair and act in the best interests of our customers,’ said Dr Tony Cocker, Chief Executive of E.ON UK.
That’s good news for E.ON customers, but there’s no way of knowing what the other energy companies will do.
Shop around
Whichever supplier you’re with, it may be wise to shop around to see if you could be paying less for your gas and electricity on another tariff or with a different provider.
You could visit each supplier’s website individually and look at all of their prices, but it tends to be much easier to use a price comparison site to search for a better deal.
Before sitting down to do a comparison it’s useful to dig out your latest energy bill.
Most comparison sites ask for details such as the size of your last bill and how you pay for your bills, for example by monthly direct debit.
If you don’t have a bill to hand, you may still be able to do a comparison by providing other details such as how many rooms there are in your property and how often you use your washing machine.
Beware of fees
Many energy companies charge a fee if you exit a contract early, so make sure you check whether this is the case with your current supplier.
Let’s say you’ve worked out you could save £50 by switching to a new provider, but it’ll cost you £30 to cancel your gas and £30 to cancel your electricity with your current supplier, you’d actually lose out on £10.
Just make sure you do the sums so that you’re not losing rather than saving money.
Ways to save in the summer
There are a number of things you can do over the summer months that may help you to reduce your energy use and, therefore, bills.
Check the timer: Many of us set our heating to come on for a few hours in the morning during the winter, but I’m sure there are a good few people who’ve forgotten to turn the timer off now that the weather is improving.
Shower, don’t bathe: If you’re on a water meter, you may be able to cut your water bills by having showers rather than baths. When the weather’s hot, cool showers can be a lot more refreshing than steamy baths anyway.
Open a window: Rather than using an electric fan to keep you cool at night, open your bedroom window to allow air to circulate. Just make sure you close all downstairs windows before you go to bed, you don’t want to give burglars easy access to your home.
Enjoy the outdoors: Take advantage of the longer evenings by going out and about rather than sitting in and watching TV.
**This material is for information purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. We strongly encourage our readers not to rely solely on this content, but to seek independent advice when making financial decisions.**
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