With the winter months fast approaching, energy consumers already struggling to meet the demands of rising gas and electricity costs are facing more worry when it comes to ensuring they stay warm and healthy this winter.

But for the most vulnerable members of society – the elderly and low income households – there is help at hand , thanks to a variety of schemes and incentives. One of which is the Government’s Warm Front Scheme.

Whether you’re in need of a new boiler to replace your old energy inefficient model, or would like to install loft insulation or cavity wall insulation, but cannot afford the up-front costs involved, the Warm Front Scheme can provide grants to householders who reside in poorly insulated or badly heated homes. If you’re eligible to benefit from the scheme you can apply for a grant of up to £3,500 or up to £6,000 if your property is not main gas connected.

“With the coldest months of the year fast approaching, there’s never been a better time for people on low incomes to pick up the phone and apply for a Warm Front grant,” advises Energy and Climate Change Minister, Greg Barker.

This year the Government has made more than £110 million available in funding, and another £100 million has already been allocated for 2012/13.

It’s estimated that around 90,000 people will take advantage of the Warm Front grant scheme over the next two years.

For more about the scheme, visit www.direct.gov.uk

E.ON, one of the leading energy suppliers in the UK, has announced plans to offer customers free gas and electricity for two months under a new deal. As households in the UK find themselves on the cusp of an energy crisis this winter, E.ON’s offer may seem too good to be true.

The deal is for customers to sign up for the ‘Energy Fit Plan’ tariff for a minimum period of two years in exchange for two month’s free gas and electricity, Tesco Clubcard points, online energy advice and a free energy smart meter.

Whilst not the cheapest tariff supplied by E.ON, the deal does afford customers the opportunity to save a little cash ahead of Christmas. The benefits of committing to E.ON’s two-year energy tariff must be weighed against the negatives. In this case, the energy supplier is asking customers to tie themselves into a long-term deal for short-term benefits (namely the two months of free energy and the smart meter).

Although committing to a long-term energy contract is usually unwise, energy prices are rising at such an extent that the deal may provide stability to customers who might otherwise be at the mercy of more flexible tariffs.

The cost of electricity and gas central heating is causing many households to seriously consider going cold this winter to save money. According to a recent uSwitch.com survey, 32 per cent of energy customers in the UK are adamant that gas and electricity tariffs are unaffordable. Unfortunately, prices are set to rise further as energy providers prepare to implement a more environmentally friendly infrastructure.

Currently averaging £1,293 per annum, household spending on energy bills is expected to reach £1,500 in the near future, at which point 77 per cent of households will ration usage whilst 36 per cent will feel compelled to turn off heating altogether.

Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com, Ann Robinson, said: “This is a wake-up call and the clearest evidence yet that the UK is on the brink of an affordability crisis when it comes to household energy. We are now just £207 or 14 per cent away from hitting an affordability ceiling, after which consumers will start rationing their usage as though they are living in the third world”.

With energy costs becoming more and more unaffordable, there are some relatively inexpensive home insulation measures worth implementing to make your home more energy efficient. Cavity wall insulation and loft insulation are both effective ways of insulating your home, which will help reduce your heating bills.

E.ON has today launched its latest online gas and electricity tariff, which it guarantees will remain at least 2% cheaper compared to its standard tariff.

The fixed-term tariff is the eighth version of its Save Online tariff. Whilst it offers a guaranteed 2% discount on its standard tariff it is not a fixed-price deal.

Save Online 8 is an online energy tariff, so you will have to manage the account using the Internet. It is only available on a fixed monthly direct debit term and is applicable for dual fuel or electricity only.

The tariff is not protected from any future price rises, and after the 12 month period, customers will automatically be switched to a similar tariff or to the energy provider’s standard tariff, which could see customers incurring higher bills as standard energy tariffs are expensive compared to cheaper online deals.

Customers who wish to leave before the end of the 12 month period will have to pay a £30 exit fee for dual fuel or £10 if they are on the electricity only plan.

Homeowners in England and Wales are to be offered £10,000 to cover the costs of improving energy efficiency in the home.

Announced earlier this month, the proposal aims to make energy efficiency more affordable for homeowners, many of whom cannot at present bear the cost of insulating lofts and cavity walls, converting garages or installing double glazing.

Forming part of the revised Energy Bill, the proposal is set to offer £10,000 to eligible homeowners to cover the cost of carrying out energy improvements around the home. The £10,000 is a marked increase on the previous amount offered to homeowners under the Energy Bill, which previously provided just £6,500 in funding. The scheme is also available to landlords.

Does the new Energy Bill deal provide property owners with a sufficient incentive to go green? Perhaps not. Although it is arguably the case that most homeowners would prefer an energy efficient home to one that is a little less green, the Energy Bill will not allow homeowners to reap the full benefits of efficiency changes.

The proposal is designed to supply energy improvements through Government-accredited installers. The £10,000 can cover insulation, new central heating boilers, solar panels and so on, but critically, the sum is to be repaid by homeowners through the energy savings. This means that homeowners continue to pay the full price for their energy bills (based on ever-increasing wholesale fuel costs and prior consumption), whilst the Government pockets the difference over a 20 year period.

A lot can happen in 20 years, which is why the proposal is fixed to properties and not the property owners. If figures published by the Energy Saving Trust are to be believed, simple changes such as replacing single-pane windows and installing insulation can save up to £225 on energy bills each year.

£225 over 20 years is only £4,500, so it would seem that customers are getting value for money – but will £10,000 be spent on each property? Will the rising cost of energy make the proposal worthless for homeowners? Will homeowners even want to avail of a scheme that installs various energy saving measures for free but provides none of the financial savings thereafter?

British Gas has wheeled out its latest offer today – the Next Day Emergency Boiler Installation commitment.

British Gas, which already offers packages on new boilers and central heating installations, boiler services and repairs and a HomeCare service for the maintenance of your boiler, has now thrown in this new service to its raft of existing offers and incentives.

Through the service, if an existing British Gas customer is without heat or hot water and calls British Gas before 1pm, a Heating Sales Advisor will visit the home that day and could install a new boiler the following day.

And the best news is, the service will be free of charge.

The move by British Gas comes at an appropriate time with winter set to kick in and boiler-related issues set to kick off, as per tradition at this time of year.

The service will ensure any British Gas customer won’t be without heating or hot water for any prolonged period of time, and offers a fast turnaround service during a period when households are heavily reliant on their boilers.

The man behind the Money Saving Expert website, Martin Lewis, has featured on this afternoon’s Jeremy Vine show on BBC Radio2 as part of a discussion about the benefits of domestic solar PV (Photovoltaic) panel installations and the payments received through the Feed-in Tariff (FIT).

Lewis, who has backed solar power technology on his own website, talked about the financial rewards of making the switch to solar panels and highlighted the average annual electricity bill savings of £100 and the average annual Feed-in Tariff payment of £800 as the incentives to have solar PV installed.

However, despite the personal finance journalist recommending ‘free’ solar installations from green energy firms and energy suppliers where they cover the cost of the solar panels and installation and in return take the Feed-in Tariff payments for generating your own electricity for the next 25 years, he hit out at companies offering a similar scheme that works more like a loan when you have to pay the costs of the panels and installations back.

“You can’t really store electricity so what do you do when you produce excess capacity – you can feed it back into the national grid,” Lewis explained to Vine and Radio2 listeners.

“This is the shock moment. The amount they pay you for generating electricity for the national grid is about twice what they charge you for getting electricity from the national grid. So if you’ve got an excess capacity of electricity you are being paid a good rate.

“You’ll probably save around £100 a year on your electricity bill. But the excess capacity will probably generate you on average about £800. So you’ve got a £900 total gain.

“The government has guaranteed Feed-in Tariffs for 25 years. They’ve said it will rise with inflation but remember government is omnicompetent– they can change their mind at anytime – and there has been some discussion that in the cuts coming they might cut the Feed-in Tariff because it’s already been successful.

“But the idea is you pay £12,000 [for the panels and installation] and you get £900 a year generated over 25 years. Suddenly you’re £12,000 up.”

Lewis did reiterate that there are risks with fitting solar PV panels to your home, other than the government’s commitment to the 25-years of Feed-in Tariff payments.

“There are risks that you might have problems with your solar panels – they might need fixing – there are risks that the Feed-in Tariff will drop in the future so it isn’t an absolute bang certainty.”

And when pressed by Vine about the initial £12,000 cost of the technology and fitting it to the home, Lewis voiced his opinion on the two differing offers from green firms and energy suppliers that offer ‘free’ solar PV panels and installation.

He said: “What they say is, you get the electricity saving – circa £100 a year – but they will keep the Feed-in Tariff generation of £800 a year. So they will put these on the roof, give you a 25 year contract and they will say you keep the £100 a year saving but we get whatever you get from generation the electricity.

“There are other companies out there – this is a warning – who say we will fit the solar panels on your roof, you give us a grand or two and then out of your earnings from solar panels it will pay off the costs – in other words it is a debt-based system. I would not touch that with a barge pole.

“The companies that say we will give you these for free and we get all the Feed-in Tariff are fine because ultimately if something changed there is no risk to you. But if you’re borrowing and doing one of the debt-based solar panel companies, I wouldn’t do that.”

Another point Lewis also focussed on was the lack of feedback about the Tariff and domestic solar installations. Because despite solar panels dating back 40 years, only now are they being used as a real alternative to traditional electricity supplies. And with the Feed-in Tariff only launching four months ago, there has been little feedback on the technology and financial benefits.

Lewis added: “This is brand spanking new. And we’re talking something that last 25 years. It’s all very good on paper but the one thing i haven’t got is feedback of who is getting them, what its like and how it’s actually working because it is too early to tell. And that is why I go back to the investment type feeling – there is risk involved, it is not a dead cert.”

The discussion went on to talk about the weight issue with solar panels and how you may need to have extra structural support built into your roof, the importance of using an MCS certified company and installers and the small print of the Feed-in Tariff where you need to make you home energy efficient with different insulations and having an energy efficient boiler before being eligible for the tariff.

To work out how much money you could save/earn by having solar PV panels installed, check out Solar Guide’s solar PV Feed-in Tariff calculator by clicking here.

Martin Lewis, the personal finance journalist and brains behind the Money Saving Expert website, is due to promote the benefits of solar PV electricity this afternoon when he features on the Jeremy Vine BBC Radio2 show.

Lewis will be appearing on Vine’s afternoon show today at around 13:00GMT to talk about the benefits of switching to solar PV.

An avid supporter of solar power, Lewis will discuss the financial benefits of installing solar PV panels to your home with the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) a key focus of the financial advantages along with reduced energy bills.

As part of his argument in support of solar PV, Lewis will also talk about the widely available offers from green energy firms and energy suppliers that offer to provide your solar panels and installation for no cost and you repay the fee using the money received from the Feed-in Tariff and saved through your energy bills.

On his website, Lewis says: “You can benefit in two ways. First there’re the electricity bill savings. The Energy Saving Trust estimates that typical solar panels can produce c.40% of a home’s leccy.

“This means a typical family could slash a dazzling £120-ish off their bills, depending on how much sun you get and your roof size. Of course, if electricity costs go up, you’ll save even more.

“The other bonus is that a new government scheme pays c. £800/year for all the solar energy you produce, even if you use it yourself. Bizarrely, the cash from this scheme massively eclipses the electricity bill savings.”

To listen to Martin Lewis, tune your radio to 88-91FM or listen live on the BBC Radio2 website by clicking here at 13:00. You can request quotes for Solar PV installations at Solar Guide or calculate feed-in profit with the Solar PV Calculator.

Anyone looking to scoop up discounted deals on British Gas’ HomeCare service will have to move swiftly with the summer sale due to end on October 4.

The UK’s leading gas and electricity supplier has been offering up to 15 per cent off HomeCare packages before the start of the winter months.

The four different grades of package – from HomeCare 100 to HomeCare 400 – are all being offered at reduced rates with varying levels of cover for each.

HomeCare 100, which offers cover for your boiler and controls, is currently available at a reduced month price of £11.65 instead of £13, and HomeCare 200 – covering the cost of the full central heating system – has been discounted to £14.37 from £17. And the two packages inclusive of wider cover including plumbing and drains and home electrics, have both been cut.

However, all these deals will terminate on October 4 before the arrival of the big freeze and a larger volume of boiler issues making central heating cover a

Even the most basic of the four packages includes an annual service, unlimited call-outs per contract year, covers the cost of parts and labour and allows you access to the 24/7 customer breakdown line.

British Gas has over 7,000 highly qualified Gas Safe Registered engineers in its HomeCare workforce and invests £30m a year to train engineers at various academies throughout their career.

You don’t have to hold any current contract with British Gas or have a British Gas boiler to be entitled to join HomeCare scheme, meaning it’s available to everyone.

Click here to find out more.

British Gas has waded into the domestic solar industry by launching a new scheme designed to benefit more than 12 million homeowners in the UK.

As with several solar panel installers before it, British Gas hopes to capitalise on the potentially lucrative Feed-in Tariffs (FiT), which were introduced by the previous Labour Government.

At present, every unit of energy generated under the Fits Scheme is worth 41.3p per KWh to homeowners regardless of whether or not the energy is consumed at the time – users can earn more money through export tariffs, which feed energy to the National Grid.

The Feed-in Tariff requires the installation of solar panels, however, which are not exactly inexpensive in the current economic climate. British Gas aims to solve the problem of costs by selling homeowners two distinct packages.

The first solar package has been named the ‘rent-a-roof’ scheme, which works by having British Gas install the panels at no cost to homeowners. Instead of owning the solar panels, customers derive a portion of their benefits by renting them from British Gas.

Under the rent-a-roof scheme, homeowners benefit from the electricity generated during the day but do not receive any income from the Feed-in Tariff; indeed, British Gas would pocket the cash from the incentive over the scheme’s 25-year period.

The rent-a-roof scheme is likely to appeal to homeowners who wish to benefit from clean, renewable energy but who cannot or are unwilling to spend money on solar panel installations.

Unfortunately, the rent-a-roof scheme is limited to the first 1,500 British Gas customers who apply.

British Gas will also provide two-year interest-free loans to customers who wish to install and own their own solar panels.

Supplied by Hitachi Capital, the British Gas loan aims to provide the necessary upfront costs – typically between £10,000 and £15,000 – to install solar panels.

Customers can benefit from the loan by generating their own power and exporting energy to the Grid under the Feed-in Tariff scheme. Returns can be in the region of 5% AER or around £1,000 p/a and can be estimated via Solar Guide’s Solar Panel Calculator.

The Managing Director of British Gas New Energy, Jon Kimber, said: “Solar power will revolutionise the way British homes generate and use energy.

“Customers reap the benefits of this technology to cut their electricity bills, reduce their carbon footprint and earn a yearly income”.

Note: For more information about British Gas Solar installations call 0800 077 4106

With Christmas just around the corner it’s a good time to start thinking about boiler breakdown cover, with engineers becoming busier in the colder months it’s all the more important to have a boiler service contract on hand to ensure you and your family are covered in the event of an emergency boiler or central heating breakdown.

Boiler service contracts range in cover from just your boiler up to and including drains, plumbing, central heating pipes & radiators and also electrical care. British Gas HomeCare offer all of these via their boiler insurance product right up to British Gas HomeCare 400 which covers every aspect of  your homes utilities, what’s more until the 31st December they’re giving away 1 month free – it’s very rare for British Gas to provide discounts or vouchers on the HomeCare product so make sure you sign-up before the offer expires.