Save money on gas and electric
Struggling to afford your gas and electric?
If you are struggling to afford your gas or electric bills, there are some things you can do:
- Check that you’re not paying someone else’s debt
- If you’ve recently moved home, you could be paying off the debt of someone who lived there before you. Make sure your supplier knows when you moved in to avoid this happening.
- Check that your meter is working properly
- Meter faults are rare but can be expensive. Check whether your meter is faulty if you’re running out of credit too quickly and nothing else seems to be wrong.
- Reduce your usage
- Check your eligibility for grants, such as the Council’s Energy Crisis Support Scheme
Sadly, there are no meaningfully cheaper deals than the price cap due to the ongoing energy crisis, so the best way to save right now is to use less energy.
- Stay warm, cut costs. Try turning your thermostat down by just 1°C and you should see a difference to your annual spending.
- Layer up. Wearing more jumpers, socks and slippers around the house and putting an extra blanket on the bed means you won't be tempted to turn the heating up.
- Turn the tap off when you’re brushing your teeth or washing your face - it can waste more than six litres of water per minute while it’s running.
- Don’t leave anything plugged in that isn’t being used. A lot of wasted electricity occurs through leaving appliances plugged.
- Turn the lights off when you leave a room.
- Close your curtains at night. When dusk falls, closing your curtains will help your home retain that heat. This helps keep warmth in the room but try not to drape them over radiators.
- Switch to LED bulbs. They are much more efficient and last longer too.
- Do full laundry loads and use the eco setting.
- Don’t use standby mode. Unless switched off at the socket, devices like your TV continue to use energy.
- Energy will only be saved if everyone in the house recognises the importance of saving it. If you’ve got children, turn energy saving into a game to teach them why they should remember to switch things off.
- Only fill the kettle with how much water you need. By filling your kettle just to the level you need, it could save you up to a third of the energy you have been using by filling to the top.
- Buy or make a draught excluder. Draught excluders stop heat escaping in gaps between the door and the floor.
- Keep doors closed. By shutting the door, you ensure the heat stays withing the room you want heated, rather than travelling through the house.
- Using the timer on your central heating system to avoid heating an empty home.
- Requesting smart meters and energy monitors from suppliers to make it easy to keep on top of your usage.
- Spreading your costs evenly over 12 months to avoid huge bills in the winter months. Keep topping your prepayment meter up in the summer to avoid getting into debt in the winter.
- Paying on a credit meter rather prepayment is usually the cheapest option if your credit rating will allow it.
- Sharing resources with friends and family. Try spending time at alternate properties so you are not heating two homes.
Need more help?
Talk to your supplier as early as possible – they have to help if you're struggling.
If you're falling behind with your energy bills, and finding yourself struggling to pay, the best thing to do is contact your supplier as soon as possible. Under rules from regulator Ofgem, your supplier must help you – usually by negotiating a payment plan that you can afford.
Most energy suppliers offer hardship funds if you're in debt.
You can pay energy bills direct from your benefits to help with budgeting.
If you're struggling to pay for your energy and you're on certain benefits, you may be able pay directly from your benefit payments instead under a Government scheme known as Fuel Direct (also known as 'third party deductions'). The scheme lets you arrange to have a small, fixed amount deducted directly from your benefit payments each week to go towards paying off energy debt.
To use the scheme, you need to contact your Jobcentre (or Pension Centre if you are claiming pension credit) and give them details of your supplier and what you owe. Your Jobcentre or Pension Centre will then get in contact with your provider.
There are also some other grants you may be able to apply for such as:
- Winter fuel payments. If you are 65 years old or more, you could get between £00 and £300 to help pay your heating bills.
- Warm home discount. If you get certain benefits you may qualify for a £140 discount on your electricity bill this winter. Warm home discount to rise by £10 next winter and eligibility criteria will be expanded.
- Cold weather payments. If you get certain benefits you may qualify for payments when the weather is particularly cold.
Community Energy Rotherham
Get information about grants available and advice on how to save energy and cut down on your energy bills.
Further information is on the Community Energy Rotherham webpages
Citizens Advice
Get free energy advice and support, this includes issues with your bills or meters, or if you’re struggling to pay for the energy you use. You can speak to a trained adviser on 0808 223 1133.
Contact the consumer helpline - Citizens Advice
National Energy Action (NEA)
The NEA is a national fuel poverty and energy efficiency charity that offers a free support service known as WASH (Warm and Safe Homes). It provides energy advice to households in England and Wales. You can contact it on 0800 304 7159.
National Energy Action (NEA) - the UK's leading fuel poverty charity
StepChange
A debt charity that provides free debt advice to people in England, Scotland and Wales. You can contact them on 0800 138 1111. They can work with you to develop a personalised plan to make repayments, set up and manage a debt management plan for you, or even help with ways to write off debts if you're unable to pay.
Need Help With Gas or Electricity Bills? StepChange
Disability Energy Support
Disability charity, Scope, offers free energy and water advice to disabled people, helping them to manage their energy and water needs.
The service is open to:
- any disabled person or households where one or more disabled people live, and
- those households are in England or Wales
Their expert advisers can support you through a wide range of topics related to your energy and water needs, including:
- managing energy and water debt
- changing your meter
- energy and water efficiency
- accessing benefits, grants, and trusts
- contacting or complaining to your supplier
- understanding your gas and electricity bills
- understanding how to use your heating systems
- support registering with the Priority Services Register