Are you struggling to pay your energy bills? Are you too scared to put your central heating on? If the answer is yes, then help is at hand thanks to Big Energy Week. 

Citizens Advice, in conjunction with energy suppliers, consumer organisations and Government agencies, has today launched Big Energy Week, a campaign designed to offer money saving help and advice to consumers looking to reduce their energy bills.

To back the launch of the campaign, Citizens Advice has revealed the findings of a recent study, which claims two in five people are worried that they will not be able to pay their next energy bill. The study revealed that 43% of people fear being unable to find the funds to pay their next fuel bill, while one in two of the survey’s participants said the rising cost of their energy bills would be a strain on their finances.

Last year the charity dealt with more than 95,000 fuel debt problems. Chief executive Gillian Guy said every day they were called upon to help people who simply cannot afford to pay their fuel bills, thanks to prices hikes which put even more pressure on finances when money is already tight.

“We’re worried that some people are struggling unnecessarily because they’re not on the best deal, live in homes that hemorrhage heat or are not getting all of the financial help available to them.”

Running from 16 – 21 January, Big Energy Week aims to highlight the measures consumers can take, which will help them save money and cut back on their energy cost, including:

• Keep on top of your bills – by working out how much your spend on your fuel bills, you’ll be able to budget to cover the costs.
• Search around for the best deal – according to the CA a household could save up to £200 annually by switching suppliers
• Implement energy efficient home improvements, such as cavity wall insulation, installing a new energy efficient boiler or fitting loft insulation. Check to see if you are eligible for a grant – such as the Warm Front scheme in England – to help insulate your home.
• Other energy saving measures, such as turning your thermostat down by one degree and making sure you don’t leave appliances on standby will help to reduce your energy costs.

If you are struggling to pay for your fuel bills, contact your energy supplier straight away. They should be able to offer you affordable repayments and may even be able to offer assistance when it comes to insulating your home.

For more information please visit the Big Energy Week website

In a month known for its doom and gloom, energy customers might be feeling a little less of the January blues, with the announcement that several big energy firms are to cut their energy costs. 

On Wednesday, EDF Energy became the first of the “Big Six” energy providers to cut energy costs, by announcing a 5% drop in its average gas prices. While electricity prices will remain unchanged, from 7 February customers will see the reduction come into force. Just two months ago the company had increased their gas prices by 15.4 percent%

“We know customers are finding it difficult, particularly during winter. So I am pleased we have been able to make this announcement now and help our customers at a time they use more gas,” said Martin Lawrence, EDF Energy’s managing director of customer supply.

Increasing the pressure on their counterparts to make similar cuts, British Gas followed suit by announcing plans to implement their own reductions, cutting its standard electricity tariff by 5% with immediate effect. The move will see 5.3 million of its customers benefit from a saving of around £24 on their average annual electricity bills. The company, which has no plans to bring down its gas prices, said the reduction will make them the cheapest for electricity.

The announcement comes just six months after British Gas customers had to endure a massive 18% increase in gas bills, whilst electricity costs were hiked by an average 16%.

“We want to keep prices as low as possible for our customers. Household budgets are stretched, and we are doing everything we can to help our customers keep their bills down,” commented Ian Peters, Managing Director for Energy.

Energy suppliers came under fire last year for hiking their prices, given the falling cost of wholesale energy. Consequently, they have faced mounting pressure from consumer groups and the Government to pass on the reduction to customers by cutting their energy costs.

Hot on the heels of EDF and British Gas, Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) will be cutting 5% off their gas prices from 26 March, resulting in an annual saving of around £28 annually for its 3.4 million customers. While Npower has also bowed to pressure and confirmed plans to cut gas prices by 5% from 1 February.

Disappointingly, none of the aforementioned energy providers have announced plans to implement duel fuel cuts. E.On and Scottish Power have yet to make similar price cuts, although with four out of the six major suppliers dropping their prices it’s only a matter of time.

For British Gas, EDF, Npower and SSE, the move is no doubt designed to try and improve their reputations, which are at an all-time low. But for most customers such minuscule reductions will have little impact on their central heating and household energy bills.

Quite simply, it’s a case of too little, too late.

A family from Barrowford, Lancashire, has described the difficulties faced in securing financial assistance to pay for central heating bills.

Mr and Mrs McDonald-Noble were left with little option but to seek help when their young son, Nathaniel, was diagnosed with Cri du Chat Syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes his body to struggle with even slight changes in temperature.

Severely disabled both mentally and physically, Nathaniel is unable to properly regulate his body temperature, meaning that his parents are forced to keep the family home warm on a constant basis. Whilst most households are learning to use central heating more sparingly in an age of increasing fuel poverty, Mr and Mrs McDonald-Noble have no alternative but to keep the heating up high for 24 hours a day.

Despite help being provided for low-income families, Mr and Mrs McDonald-Noble both work and do not qualify for most means-tested benefits that are made available to other households. The high cost of gas is proving a significant drain on the couple’s resources, however, which is why help has been sought to pay the bills. Unfortunately, help has not been forthcoming to date.

Mr McDonald-Noble explained: “We have to keep the house really warm for [Nathaniel] and winter is an especially difficult time. He gets cold and can turn blue quite easily, just coming out of the bath and things like that.

Since Nathaniel was born our heating bills have doubled. There is help available, but just getting to what’s available is really difficult. The whole system is a minefield with no clarity on what is or isn’t available”.

Pendle Borough Council has promised to look into the possibility of providing a special grant for the McDonald-Noble family, despite the fact that Nathaniel receives Disability Living Allowance. The salient point to note from the couple’s struggle is not only that help from local government and energy companies can be difficult to obtain but that some families cannot afford to save on heating.

Although most households can survive comfortably with reduced reliance on heating, Nathaniel’s parents must do all they can to ensure a warm environment for their son, which could be made more affordable by installing loft and cavity wall insulation to limit heat loss.

Discussing a plight affecting millions of households in England and Wales, Save the Children has claimed that childhood conditions such as Asthma may be caused or made worse by fuel poverty.

According to the charity, 45,280 families in Wales are eligible for the Warm Homes Discount, the UK Government’s latest initiative to increase the affordability of energy for homes throughout Britain. The problem highlighted by Save the Children is that many people do not realise they are eligible for the £120 discount, which was designed to help around 800,000 families.

Save the Children also argues that many families simply do not know how to claim the discount, meaning that the problem of fuel poverty is not being effectively tackled by government.

Head of Save the Children in Wales, James Pritchard, said: “It’s unacceptable that so many of Wales’ poorest families who need help heating their homes this winter will get nothing because energy companies have not put up nearly enough money.

“Without this help the choice for parents is stark: cut back on food, get into debt or risk their children’s health because they can’t afford to keep them warm”.

Mr Pritchard makes a compelling argument, but his concerns are likely to fall on deaf ears as the UK Government continues its drive to cut public spending. Energy companies, meanwhile, despite enjoying record annual profits, are hardly forthcoming in providing sufficient help for the most vulnerable households.

A household is deemed fuel poor if it spends 10 per cent or more of its income on energy. Following another economically turbulent year, millions of households in the UK could be described as fuel poor. If Save the Children is right in its assessment of the situation, fuel poverty could be doing far worse damage to children than previously thought; while proving a financial struggle for many parents, the high cost of electricity and gas central heating could be indirectly ruining the health of thousands of children.

Christine McGourty, the Director of Energy UK, which represents energy firms in the country, argued that the Warm Home Discount scheme had been adequately advertised to customers. Mr Pritchard, however, believes the problem is not one of promotion; instead, he believes the initiative has been “massively underfunded”.

Statisticians at Manchester University have produced a set of calculations that proves what most people in the UK already know: the big six energy firms have been profiteering for years.

The cost of domestic energy is a serious concern in the UK, where millions of households are described as fuel poor, which arises when a household spends 10 per cent or more of its income on electricity and gas central heating.

Energy firms such as British Gas and E.ON have been increasing domestic fuel bills for years, usually citing the ever-increasing cost of wholesale fuel prices as justification for the rises. According to statisticians at Manchester University, however, whole sale fuel prices rarely correlate with the increases charged by energy firms.

Dr Nathan Green of Manchester University said: “There is a clear trend and this shows a widening gap between the price consumers pay and the whole cost paid by the energy companies.

“When you take into account seasonal variation, random fluctuations and the time lags between wholesale costs rising and retail prices following, there is never a time at which the energy companies are losing money”.

The gap between wholesale fuel costs and domestic prices has long proved a source of frustration for consumers. Wholesale prices tend to spike rapidly before returning to standard rates. Domestic prices, however, increase rapidly in response to wholesale spikes, but tend to fall much slower. When wholesale prices fall, energy firms are notoriously slow to pass on the savings to consumers.

Although this point has been known for some time, Dr Green’s calculations put into figures what already had been expressed in words by disgruntled consumers, concerned charities and an outraged but ultimately toothless energy watchdog.

According to Dr Green, the big six energy firms were charging an average £1.93 per 100 kilowatt hour more than the wholesale price in early 2004. This figure jumped to more than £4.00 by 2010, falling only to £2.73 in the summer of 2011, shortly before energy firms sought to increase bills even further. Lobbyists have since vowed to end energy firms’ shameful profiteering.

In the meantime, households can reduce domestic energy bills by installing loft insulation, cavity wall insulation and the latest energy efficient boilers with new thermostatic controls.

Phase one of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme went live on Monday, inviting applications from the non-domestic sector interested in switching to renewable heating.

Under the Government’s flagship £865 million scheme, companies are eligible to install renewable energy technologies, such as heat pumps, solar thermal panels and biomass boilers, and get paid money for generating their own green heating and hot water.

Tariff levels and the amount of money paid will depend on the  the type of renewable heating technology installed, as well as the size of the system.

As one of the UK’s leading suppliers of wood pellets, CPL Distribution is pleased to see the phase one of the scheme finally go live, after a series of delays knocked industry confidence.

“There is no denying that the delays to the Renewable Heat Incentive’s launch knocked confidence among board-level decision makers and a large number of projects to install renewable systems have been stalled as a result,” commented Tim Minett, the firm’s chief executive.

“With the delays now behind us, this green light for the Renewable Heat Incentive will be a significant stepping stone in the UK’s transition towards a low-carbon economy.”

If you’re a business and you would like to know more about the scheme, give energy regulator Ofgem’s dedicated enquiries helpline a ring on 0845 200 2122 or visit www.ofgem.gov.uk.

The domestic side of the RHI will be launched next year.

It is the season to be jolly, and with Christmas fast approaching, the nice folk at Glow-worm have been working faster than Santa’s little helpers to source top tips and advice to help us all enjoy a low carbon Christmas. 

The winter months are starting to set in, and with the expensive Christmas season just around the corner, we’re all looking for ways to help save energy and money.

To count down the days running up to Christmas, the team at Glow-worm have today launched their fun alternative Christmas advent calendar. From now until Christmas Day, instead of the traditional festive images or chocolate treats, you will be able to feast on a variety of fun facts and figures and energy saving tips.

If you want to cut your costs and do your bit for the environment in the process, it’s worth considering these energy saving tips:

• Reduce your carbon footprint – ditch paper cards and send friends and family an e-card instead.
• Make your own recycled Christmas decorations.
• Use LED fairy lights – they use much less energy compared to traditional ones.
• If you really want to go to town you could decorate the outside of your home, but use energy-saving solar powered lights instead. You’ll be saving money on your energy bills if you use the sun’s renewable energy during the day to light up your house at night.
• And last but not least, give your boiler the best present of all by making sure it’s had its annual winter check-up. A service will ensure you don’t wake up to any nasty surprises on Christmas morning – like having no central heating. We can’t imagine anything worse than a Christmas without any heating - except perhaps having to eat a plate full of sprouts!

There’s no time like the present – pardon the pun! Check out www.needanewboiler.com to unwrap today’s first energy saving treat.

Just the mere thought is bad enough, but more and more people are having to choose between heating their homes or putting food on the table.

It’s hard to imagine the scenario, isn’t it. After all, we are living in the 21st century. But thanks to high levels of unemployment and shocking fuel costs, more and more vulnerable members of society are having to make that unimaginable choice.

The bleak situation facing the UK population as winter fast approaches has been highlighted by campaigners from Fuel Poverty Action Group. The group staged a ‘die-in’ protest outside the head offices of energy giant EDF Energy, which saw campaigners paint their lips blue and don layers of thick clothing to mirror what it’s like for the thousands of people who find themselves the victims of fuel poverty.

To highlight their cause, campaigners were armed with a wooden coffin – which had the  2010-11 winter deaths scrawled on it.

Fuelled by official statistics highlighting the fact that between 2010-11 there were 25,700 winter related deaths – 10% of which can be directly attributed to fuel poverty, according to National Energy Action (NEA) – campaigners adding their voice to the protest included pensioner Linda Powell.

“I’ve just become a pensioner and I’ve received my winter fuel allowance of £200, down from £250 thanks to the government. I am having to hold back on putting my central heating on, and do everything to cut back,” she said.

Thanks to high energy prices, poor heating and insulation and low household incomes, the choice between eating and heating is a very serious issue for millions of people, particularly pensioners. Last year was the coldest on record and high energy prices coupled with spells of severe weather will do nothing to help an already bleak situation get worse.

“I’m just about keeping going, to be honest,” said Ms Powell.

Calling on the Government to do more, the NEA said schemes like the upcoming Green Deal needs to deliver on its promise, particularly when it comes to heating the homes of society’s most vulnerable households.

Responding to the protest, EDF Energy said they were “committed to ensuring all of our customers get a fair deal over the winter period.

“So, going into the second successive winter, EDF Energy has the cheapest standard dual fuel prices of all the major energy suppliers, meaning a fairer deal for all of our customers.”

In a surprising victory for hygiene and a regrettable defeat for the environment, a new survey has revealed that Britons spend far longer in the shower than previously thought.

Lasting around eight minutes, the average shower is now estimated to use almost the same amount of energy and water as the average bath. The conclusion was drawn from data obtained by researchers who used innovative technology to calculate results.

The survey monitored 100 families over a period of 10 days, recording 2,600 showers – or 2.6 per family per day – in total. The technology used in the study calculated a shower lasting eight minutes to use approximately 62 litres of hot water. Despite using more hot water than previous studies suggested, the average shower still compares favourably to the average bath, which uses around 80 litres of hot water.

Unfortunately, the data revealed an alarming problem: power showers use twice the energy and water as the average bath. Although power showers arguably provide users with a cleaner, more pleasant experience, they come at a cost in terms of water and gas central heating consumption.

The study was carried out by the Research and Development wing of Unilever. A behavioural scientist working at the firm, Dr Hilde Hendrickx, said: “We know that 95 per cent of the associated greenhouse gas emissions are related to people [using] our products because they have to use hot water”.

The rather frank admission by Dr Hendrickx was followed by an insight into why household questionnaires were ineffective when it came to accurately assessing energy and water usage.

Dr Hendrickx noted: “The problem with [questionnaires] is that people do not often have a very good insight into their behaviour because it is a habit and they may not be very aware of what they are actually doing. When it comes to time perception, most people are not very good at estimating how long it took them to do a particular activity”.

The study ought to be reviewed with interest by UK households, who spend around £416 a year on daily eight minute showers. Spending £918 for the same time, families with power showers ought to be even more interested.

According to the latest Boiler Guide press release, reinstating the Boiler Scrappage Scheme in England will help homeowners cut their fuel bills.

Boiler Guide is backing the Heating and Hotwater Industry Council (HHIC) who are calling on the Government to reinstate the boiler scrappage scheme in England, which last year saw more than 118,000 old and energy inefficient boilers scrapped in favour of new A-rated energy efficient models.

The incentive proved a runaway success last year, encouraging 61% of homeowners to replace their old boiler as a direct result of the scheme, enabling them to make their homes more energy efficient, saving money and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the process.

Of the boilers replaced, 51% of them were over 25 years old and with energy bills at an all-time high, the need to become more energy efficient is growing in awareness amongst homeowners. Reintroducing the boiler scrappage scheme would be a productive way to help householders in their battle to save money as energy bills continue to rise.

Swapping an old inefficient boiler for a new boiler will help homeowners to save an average of £290 annually on their central heating bills. But there are many advantages to the boiler scrappage scheme, not least:

• It provides a financial incentive, encouraging homeowners to trade in their old boilers for newer energy efficient models
• Installing a new energy efficient boiler will save energy and reduce energy bills
• It will help to achieve cuts in greenhouse gas emissions
• The scheme raises money for the Treasury
• It helps to protect jobs and encourage growth in the UK’s domestic heating and hot water industry

David Holmes, founder of Boiler Guide says: “Saving energy means saving money and one very effective way to do that is to replace your old energy-sapping boiler for a brand new energy efficient model.

“Unfortunately during these increasing tough economic times, many homeowners simply cannot afford the initial upfront costs needed to install a new boiler. And that’s why schemes like this are worth their weight in gold.

“The merits of the boiler scrappage scheme have already been proven and given that the scheme continues to run successfully in Scotland, it’s high time the scheme was reinstated in England.”

As the UK’s leading online resource of boiler and central heating installers, whether your boiler needs repairing or if you’re looking to install a brand new boiler, Boiler Guide is the go to place to help you source boiler quotes from recommended installers and heating engineers.

For more industry news and views, or to find an engineer in your area visit www.boilerguide.co.uk