Among the U-turns announced by the new Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, this week is the decision to end the energy price guarantee after six months, rather than two years as previously promised.
This could cause typical energy bills to almost quadruple to £4,347 in April next year, according to leading energy forecaster Cornwall Insight.
We are facing one of the gravest financial challenges in a generation and the world is awash with advice on how to save on costs, some good, some bad.
However well-meaning, I believe it is not helpful, realistic or, for that matter, fair to expect people to watch TV in the dark or to wear several jumpers to keep themselves warm in the depths of winter.
But there are ways to reduce energy costs in your home without reducing your quality of life.
There is no silver bullet, no single technology that miraculously saves you energy. Your home is a complicated and delicate balance of interacting forces, all of which affect how much power you need.
To give a clearer picture of how an individual household might be able to reduce their bills, I like to think of the problem in terms of the three principles of energy reduction: generation, retention and consumption.
This makes it easier to assess your own home and how you can best improve its energy efficiency.
Generation
How we produce energy is a critical factor in how much it costs. For example, if solar PV panels produce 100 per cent of your electricity, then your generation costs are zero compared with a household that purchases their electricity from the grid.
Similarly, where you buy your energy makes a huge difference in the size of your bills.
Solar panels
For many, switching to onsite-generated renewable energy is not feasible. However, it is well worth investigating solar PV panels to reduce costs, especially if you are renovating your home.
Ensure you use a reputable consultant to assess your home as the orientation of your roof (the direction it faces) and its pitch (how steep it is) will affect the amount of solar energy you can produce.
Battery storage is a game-changing technology in this space: solar PV panels produce most of their electricity when we don’t need it so having the ability to store solar electricity and use it at another time makes the technology even more attractive.
The cost of solar panels has lowered significantly over the years and will continue to do so. It is also worth investigating grants that may be available (solar-grants.co.uk).
A 4KW system will generate enough electricity for a family of four and will cost between £6,000 and £8,000. A storage battery will cost between £3,000 and £6,000.
Shop around
Those who can’t explore renewable energy should try to shop around for better energy deals. Due to the escalating crisis, switching deals is a bit more complicated.
Still, companies offer significant savings if you switch all your home services (internet, insurance and energy) to them (uw.co.uk). Some providers will offer significantly discounted rates if you use electricity during off-peak hours so using timers on dishwashers and washing machines could reduce energy costs.
A word of warning, though: the peak rates on these energy tariffs are usually higher than on standard ones, so getting the timing wrong on your energy usage will increase your bills.
Retention
A passive home is insulated so well that it retains much of its heat. This means that you require minimal energy to heat a Passivhaus. Many people I know who live in these homes don’t even turn on their heating systems.
It is not plausible for most of us to convert our homes to passive ones — however, the concept of energy retention is key to reducing bills.
In poorly insulated homes, 70 per cent of the heat we produce is lost and escapes into the atmosphere, so retaining the heat we have is key to reducing bills.
Insulation
If you are renovating your home, upgrading your insulation is a great way to keep your energy costs low. This will future-proof your home.
The average three-bedroom, semi-detached house will cost between £8,500 and £15,000 to insulate from the exterior and £5,000 to £7,000 to insulate from the interior.
Prioritise upgrading the insulation in walls, ceilings and windows before considering upgrading to an air source heat pump.
Heat pumps work best in well-insulated homes and require a third of the energy to run compared to a gas boiler.
But electricity (the power source for a heat pump) is more expensive than gas, so if your home is not adequately insulated, installing a heat pump could actually increase your energy bills.
Draught-proofing
If you are renting or not renovating your home, do not despair. There are still things you can do. Your windows and doors are key ways that heat escapes from your home.
Draught-proofing is not a new theory or technique and not as alluring as heat pumps, however do not underestimate its effectiveness.
The average UK home loses up to 30 per cent of its heat just through leaky windows. It’s easy to assess visually how draughty your windows are but even if they look fine, running a wet hand around the edges of your window will quickly identify draught areas.
Draught-excluders, seals and mastic can be easily added to windows and doors to reduce air leaks and reduce your energy bills at a cost of just £40 per window and £35 per exterior door.
Consumption
Reducing the amount of energy we consume has an obvious and direct effect on the amount of energy we need to purchase.
Reducing your power consumption has the most direct impact on the size of your energy bills. It is as much about behaviour as new technology, so we can all do something to reduce our energy consumption.
Zoned heating
If renovating, consider including a low-temperature heating system like underfloor heating in your plans.
Underfloor heating systems require about 30 per cent less energy than radiator systems, so an underfloor heating system will dramatically reduce your energy consumption, even if powered by a gas boiler.
As most underfloor heating systems operate as zoned systems, this gives added flexibility to control the heat in each room, further reducing your energy costs.
If you are not renovating, you could upgrade to a zoned heating system, which will allow you to control the temperature in each home area independently.
For example, bedrooms are comfortable if heated to lower temperatures than living areas.
A zoned heating system’s freedom and flexibility will make for a more comfortable space and reduce costs. Adding smart controls to zoned heating systems adds another level of control and could reduce costs even further.
The average three-bedroom home is about 95sq m, so an underfloor heating system will cost about £15,250 to install.
If you are already renovating the property, the cost would be about £3,000 lower. Electric underfloor heating is cheaper to install at about £6,000.
Traditionally electric systems were more expensive to run due to the cost of electricity, but if you produce 100 per cent of your electricity via solar then electric underfloor heating is an interesting option.
Upgrade your radiators
An even cheaper and less involved option is to upgrade your radiators by fitting thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs), allowing you to control the temperature of each radiator in your home independently.
Installing a mobile wireless thermostat could help reduce costs by ensuring the temperature in the room you are occupying is correct.
Wall-mounted thermostats in hallways often lead to the overheating of the other spaces in your home, which will waste energy and increase your bills. Expect to pay about £460 to fit TRVs in a three-bedroom house, assuming £20 per TRV on eight radiators plus £300 labour.
Smart TRVs
If you have a larger budget, you could install intelligent TRVs that will upgrade your entire heating system to a smart system (tado.com/gb-en).
These are straightforward to retrofit as they are technology-based rather than infrastructure-based (so you don’t have to change any plumbing). These intelligent TRVs are all linked wirelessly to a smartphone, tablet or website.
They control the temperature in each room dynamically and are so smart they know when you have left a window open (and will turn off the heating in that area).
They can even know when you are on your way home from work and so turn on your heating only when needed, reducing bills further. It would cost about £900 to fit out a three-bedroom home.
Head to barkerwalsh.co.uk for design tips on how to renovate or improve your home to reduce energy costs.
