A MAJOR energy supplier is handing out free electric blankets to keep customers warn this winter as bills stay high.
Energy prices for the average household rose from £1,971 to £2,500 a year on October 1.
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In response to this Octopus Energy is handing out free electric blankets to help customers keep warm while costs remain high.
The blankets will be handed out to those in the most financial need.
And electric blankets can be a cheaper way of keeping warm instead of relying on central heating.
From Monday, October 10, customers will soon be able to fill in an online form to apply for an electric blanket.
Octopus Energy is offering customers 10,000 electric blankets – 20% more than the supplier originally offered in a similar scheme last year.
The supplier said that the blankets will only be available to people who will benefit from them most.
This is likely to include elderly people, or those with specific medical conditions which make them immobile, very unwell, or feel cold.
But customers who aren’t eligible for a free blanket can get one of our 5,000 Dreamland discount codes, which allow them to get a 50% discount on one of the brand’s electric blankets and mattress toppers.
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Rebecca Dibb-Simkin, Chief Product Officer at Octopus Energy, says: “Octopus is doing everything we can to help customers through the crisis.
“Our electric blankets scheme was just one of the measures we’ve taken to help.
“And given the overwhelmingly positive feedback last year, we knew we only had one option – to make it even bigger.
“Heating an individual rather than a whole home can save hundreds off a customer’s bill, and at times that we know how much people are struggling, we hope these blankets can be a real difference maker.”
According to research from Uswitch, these gadgets use 100 watts of energy to warm a double bed.
It costs 24p to run an electric blanket for one hour a day for seven days.
And if you used it for one hour a day for a year, you’d be spending £12.48 on your electricity.
Sarah Broomfield, Uswitch’s energy expert, previously told The Sun that using an electric blanket instead of turning the heating up could help slash your bills.
She said: “Using an electric blanket to warm the bed may mean you can turn the temperature of your thermostat down, as you won’t need your bedroom to be so hot.
“And turning your thermostat down by just 1°C can save you as much as £80 a year.”
Octopus Energy launched its first electric blankets scheme last winter to help customers save energy and money.
The company gave away 7,000 free electric blankets to customers who needed them most.
And the donated blankets helped reduce the average customer bill by 19%, according to the energy supplier.
Other energy bill help is coming
From October the first, all households will start to receive a £400 energy bill discount.
The payment will be dished out by your energy supplier and will be split across six discounts between October and March next year.
Households will receive a £66 energy bill discount in October and November and a discount worth £67 in December, January, February and March.
In November, a £300 one-off “Pensioner Cost of Living Payment” will be paid out to eight million households.
It will be given to those who already get the winter fuel payment – which is worth between £100 and £300 for those over the state pension age.
Millions of households are in line to get the £150 Warm Home Discount between December and March 2023.
Check if you can get an energy grant
There are plenty of energy grants and schemes open to help you out if you’re struggling.
British Gas has recently confirmed that it’ll pay its most vulnerable customers grants worth £750 to help with sky-high bills.
The British Gas Energy Trust has previously paid struggling households up to £1,500 – and you don’t need to be a British Gas customer to apply for this help.
Ask your supplier what’s on offer and how to apply, or check here:
You can get free debt advice
If you’re in debt there are plenty of services you can take advantage of and they offer free advice on how to manage debt.
Most of them can offer you free guidance and help in person, over the telephone or online.
