How to reduce your energy bills

Energy bills are very high at the moment, but there are a few things you can do to keep your costs as low as possible.

It’s usually cheaper to pay by Direct Debit and it will mean you won’t have to worry about missing payments.

It sounds obvious, but the less energy you use the lower your bills will be.

There are plenty of tips and tricks you can use to cut your usage. We’ve listed some below.

Here are some quick ideas to help you cut back: 

• Close your curtains and use draft excluders to stop heat escaping.

• Use your washing machine or dishwasher at a lower temperature, or run them on the ‘eco’ setting – and avoid putting the washing on when you don’t have a full load.

• Get into the habit of switching off lights when you leave a room and switching off electrical items instead of leaving them on standby. 

Better insulation, a new boiler, solar panels. There are lots of options that could help you save up to £310 per year. You might want to look at energy efficiency grants to make you home more energy efficient.

If you have a traditional pre-payment meter, you’ll get one voucher or Special Action Message (SAM) a month for six months to use towards top-ups. The vouchers will be sent to you in the first week of the month using the contact details your energy company has on file. Make sure your email, phone number and address are up to date so you don’t miss out. Once you get your voucher, you can use them where you would normally top up, like at the Post Office or a shop with a PayPoint machine.  

You don’t need to apply for this, if you don’t have a pre-payment meter the discount will be added to your bill automatically and pre-payment customers will be sent their vouchers or SAMs without needing to ask for them. Please ignore any scam texts, calls or emails that tell you they need your bank details for the discount. 

In addition, all households in Northern Ireland will receive a one-off payment of £600 to help with their energy bills, with payments, starting in January. The support will combine £400 worth of support from the Energy Bills Support Scheme Northern Ireland (EBSS NI) and £200 under the Alternative Fuel Payment (AFP) scheme for using off- grid fuel like LPG or heating oil. 

The Alternative Fuel Payment will be available to all households in Northern Ireland, not just those who use off-grid fuel.

Customers who pay by Direct Debit will receive the £600 into their bank account directly. Other customers will be sent a voucher to redeem the £600 payment.

Check what energy-saving grants you couldOpens in a new window get on the Simple Energy Advice website.

Enter your postcode to find out how you could improve your home's energy efficiency using the Simple Energy Advice calculatorOpens in a new window

Find out more about the Green Homes Grant and similar schemes available in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales in our guide How to pay for home improvements.

A prepayment meter works like a ‘pay-as-you-go’ tariff for gas or electricity. You need to pay for energy before you can use it.

That means putting money directly into your meter, using an electric or gas meter key, tokens or, in some cases, topping up online.

The main benefit of prepayment meters is that you won’t spend more than you have. But it’s also one of the most expensive ways of buying energy.

If you have a pre-pay meter, you can still switch but currently for most people it will be better to stay where you are as prices are also capped to no more than £2,500 a year if you’re an average user.

If you want, or have to stick with, a pre-payment meter – you can still check to see if there’s a cheaper deal you can switch to.

If there is, none of the big six suppliers will charge to switch you to a credit meter which can be cheaper. 

You will probably have to undergo a credit check and your energy account will need to be debt free.

A smart meter can help you track your use of energy so you can try to reduce how much you use and when. 

Switching to fixed rate energy deals are looking expensive when compared to sticking to your supplier’s standard variable rate, as standard variable rates are being protected by the Energy Price Guaranteed of £2,500 a year for households with typical usage.

From April 2023 until 31 March 2024, the Energy Price Guarantee will be £3,000 a year.

You might also find that energy companies won't take you on as a new customer.

When your fixed plan ends, your supplier will put you on their standard variable tariff. With the high energy prices we’re facing at the moment, this will be the Energy Price Guarantee. This will limit the amount you pay.  

If you're near the end of a fixed plan, you won't have to pay a fee to leave it and move to a new tariff – provided your switch completes within the last 49 days of your current deal.

Getting a fixed tariff also doesn’t mean you’ll pay the same amount for each bill. It’s the tariff that stays the same and your energy bill will rise and fall with your usage. 

If you signed up for a fixed tariff before the announcement that the October price cap rise will now be limited to £2,500 a year instead of £3,549, you might now want to stay on the standard variable rate. You can ask your supplier to cancel your contract and there will be no exit fees if you signed up in the past 14 days. If it’s been longer since you decided to fix, you should weigh up whether the exit fees your supplier charges are worth paying.

For most people a standard variable rate tariff is probably the best choice. Your bills rise and fall based on what’s happening in the energy market. If energy prices drop so will your bill. If they rise, you’ll need to be prepared to cover higher costs, up to the price cap.

Sometimes you might be using more energy than the amount your energy supplier thinks you’re using.

This is more of a problem if you’re on a Direct Debit, or don’t send your meter reading to your energy supplier regularly.

If you’re on a fixed payment instalment plan and are using more energy than you are being charged for, your supplier might send you a catch-up bill. This is a bill for the extra energy you’ve used above the amount you’ve paid for.

If you’re switching, you could be sent a catch-up bill. This will depend on how accurately you’ve been charged for your energy use.

Energy backbilling sets out rules for sending you catch-up bills. They can be for any amount but can’t be for energy used more than 12 months ago.

Not being able to afford to heat or power your home can be worrying. However, there is help available if you’re struggling.

It’s important to get in touch with your supplier to ask for help before you miss a payment.

If you’re struggling with money or repaying a debt, options include:

• reviewing bill payment plans, including debt you might be repaying in instalments
• payment breaks, or reductions in how much you pay
• having longer to repay what you owe
• access to hardship funds – this is only in exceptional cases.

Find out who your gas or electricity supplier is, and their contact details, on a recent energy bill.

Your energy supplier might have fewer staff available to help you at the moment. Try contacting them online. If you don’t get a reply, it’s worth chasing it up.

If you get benefits, you might be able to pay back money you owe your energy supplier using the Fuel Direct Scheme.

This works by automatically taking a set amount from your benefits to pay your debt, plus an extra amount to cover your energy use.

As energy prices are going up, your monthly payments will increase too. However, if you think the payments you’re being asked to make are excessive and you already have a lot of credit in your account, you can ask your supplier to change them. The Ofgem code for suppliers that applies in England, Scotland and Wales states that they should set a fair Direct Debit and be able to explain to you why that amount is reasonable. If they can’t, you can ask your supplier to refund some of your credit.  

MoneySavingExpert has a calculator to help you work out what your monthly payment should beOpens in a new window  

Winter energy bills are usually much higher than summer ones, so instead of charging you for what you use each month suppliers will often take your yearly usage and divide it into 12 chunks, so the cost is more evenly spread. This could explain why you’re being charged for more than you’re using. You can ensure your bills are as accurate as possible by taking regular meter readings, if you have a smart meter your readings are sent off automatically.  

Have you already missed more than one payment and aren’t able to come to an agreement with the provider? Then it’s best to get advice as soon you can, especially if you’ve got other debts as well.

A dual fuel tariff simply means you get both your gas and electricity from the same energy supplier. 

Many fixed, online and standard tariffs will offer a dual fuel option.

Many dual fuel tariffs also offer a discount for taking both gas and electricity from the same company.

It can be more convenient to deal with one supplier than have two separate suppliers for gas and electricity. Sometimes it can work out cheaper but it’s not always the cheapest option. 

Find out more about energy tariffs (Opens in a new window) at Citizens Advice.

If you’ve got a complaint, contact your energy provider first. Your supplier’s phone number and website will be on your energy bill.

Explain the problem and say what you want your supplier to do about it. You can use free  template  complaints  lettersOpens in a new window from  Citizens Advice . (Opens in a new window)

Energy suppliers will then have up to eight weeks to tell you their decision on the complaint.

If you can’t reach an agreement with your supplier after eight weeks, you can ask for a “deadlock letter”, which lets you to take your case to the free Energy Ombudsman.

The Energy Ombudsman will then decide which party it agrees with and how to resolve the issue.

Find out more about  how to make a complaint at Ofgem(Opens in a new window)