CashNews.co
It’s the time of the year when the weather turns bleak and the autumn chill inevitably has most of us reaching for the thermostat to crank up the heating.
But keeping warm comes at a cost, with UK households facing higher energy prices this winter following a hike to Ofgem’s price cap.
The energy regulator raised its cap from October 1, taking the average cost from £1,568 annually to £1,717 – an increase of about £12 extra per month.
The cap doesn’t limit your total energy bill as you pay for the amount you use – so if you use more than the average, your bill will be higher.
Given the recent hike in energy prices, households should look to make savings wherever possible and even the slightest of changes can make a big difference on your monthly outgoings.
One of the simplest ways to slash your bills is to shift your energy usage to off-peak periods as this allows you to take advantage of cheaper rates if you’re on what’s known as an ‘agile tariff’.
Energy CEO Llewellyn Kinch recommends that households check when their energy supplier’s time-of-use (TOU) tariffs and off-peak hours are to make the most of the savings and possibly swap to an agile tariff, or Economy 7, if they think they can move their usage to off peak times to save money.
For most suppliers, the off-peak hours fall between 9pm and 7am, while others will have midday off-peak periods from 10am to 2pm, or weekends when energy demand is lower. Some may also have multiple off-peak periods, such as before 4pm and after 9pm on weekdays.
At such times energy can be as much as 50 or 75 percent cheaper than the standard price cap unit rate. If you were able to move just 25 percent of your usage to a time when it’s 50 percent cheaper, that would mean a saving of £214 a year off a typical household dual fuel energy bill.
Kinch explains: “This information can typically be found on your monthly bill or the utility’s website, where they outline cheaper night-time usage rates. Once you’ve identified these lower-cost periods, you can adjust your energy usage habits to take advantage of them.”
It means that households should avoid running high-energy appliances, such as dishwashers and washing machines, or charging devices during peak hours to avoid paying the highest rates.
Households can also extend this approach to running the heating by using a programmable thermostat which is set to come on during off-peak times.
Kinch adds: “If you have a programmable thermostat, set it to conserve energy by adjusting the temperature when you’re not home during peak hours. Then, you can cool or heat your home during off-peak times, when rates are lower.”