12 tips to save energy and cut bills as they are forecast to rise £240

The average household is expected to pay approximately £240 more per year for their energy bills from 2022, new research has revealed.

Costs have surged thanks to rising wholesale costs in recent times, leaving many suppliers to collapse. 

As a result, bills could rise by £240 in 2022 for a typical three-bedroom, gas-heated home, with this household projected to spend a total £1,360 on energy, according to research from the Energy Saving Trust.

With the expected rise of the energy price cap early next year, many people could see the cost of heating their homes rise to unprecedented levels.

The average home is expected to pay roughly £240 more a year for their bills from 2022

To help people protect themselves against the projected increase, Energy Saving Trust has provided 12 tips to save energy, cash and reduce carbon.

These tips include taking devices off standby, draught proofing the home and keeping your shower time to just four minutes.  

Households who take the below actions could save up to £248 on their energy bills – reducing the impact of the projected increase in energy costs on people’s pockets, without compromising their health or wellbeing.

Using energy at home emits around 3,300kgCO2e per year but taking the below steps would also result in a reduction of 674kg of carbon dioxide from the typical house.

This could help to protect the planet and reduce the typical home’s energy carbon footprint by 20 per cent.

To put the saving in perspective, 674kg of CO2 is the same as driving 2,400 miles – that’s driving from London to Bristol 20 times.

Ofgem increased the energy price cap by £139 a year at the start of October 2021 and is expected to increase it again in April 2022.

This will affect around 15million people – meaning that unless people’s energy supply is currently on a fixed tariff, their energy costs will be more expensive.

The sharp increase in wholesale costs has led to 23 household suppliers collapsing since August with provider, Bulb, also going into special administration. 

Mike Thornton, chief executive of Energy Saving Trust, said: ‘Rising energy bills are understandably causing concern for people across the UK, with households potentially facing some of the highest energy bills on record this winter.

‘But the good news is that by taking small steps around our homes, we can make a big difference to minimising our energy bills.

‘As well as protecting people’s pockets, taking small steps to reduce energy consumption will also help to protect the planet by cutting the carbon emitted from our homes.’

Customers who are worried about paying their energy bill are encouraged to contact their supplier to access available support – and to check their eligibility for the Warm Home Discount Scheme, which offers a one-off payment to help meet heating costs. 

Energy Saving Trust’s compares calculations using projected prices for 2022 with the three-year average of actual energy costs between 2018 and 2020.

Figures are based on a typical three-bedroom semi-detached house, using a gas price of 4.65p per kWh and electricity price of 20.06p per kWh.

The calculations assume an average gas consumption of 13,768 kWh per year and electricity consumption of 3,586 kWh per year.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk