Consumer organisations and the government suggest 2 things
1) shopping around for the best deal which often results in a temporary discount applied for a new customer of about £200-£300 for the year.
The process to switch supplier involves the new supplier wanting to get you on board asap whilst the current supplier drags their heals by trying to apply unexpected charges etc. I've gone through this twice and both times it took months, ended with numerous phone calls, arguments, frustration, threats of court action.
I get energy suppliers knocking on the door asking me to switch. They dismiss my objection about how much hassle it is to change saying it is easy and they promise it will be. Well to be fair I’ve probably knocked on their door promising they could live forever.
2) Using less energy by insulating the house or turning down the thermostat.
It makes sense to insulate your home and you can buy some insulation very cheaply as its subsidised by the energy companies. There are a lot of old houses in the UK without cavity walls so it can be expensive to get a house up to decent modern spec.
I used to live in an old house and my annual energy bill was £1800. I was always freezing cold – often wearing a coat indoors. I moved to a well insulated house and my bill reduced 40% and I was hot.
I personally don’t subscribe to the idea of living in the cold to save some money. I pay thousands of pounds for a decent holiday somewhere hot and I figure for a few hundred pounds extra my house can be hot all year round. If I didn’t have the spare cash then maybe I’d think twice about this but its my little bit of luxury.
I’ll stop here – I have a great deal more to say on energy companies and hope the government does introduce its new law to ensure a few clear simple tariffs.
mmxiv