Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire shares tips for how to save money on your energy bills
- Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire is offering tips on saving money on your energy bills
- People do not need to wait until winter to make simple changes
- It is also important for people to make sure they are getting all the support they are entitled to
As people across South Gloucestershire face another winter of high energy bills, Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire shares how small changes can make a big difference when it comes to saving energy and lowering costs.
The charity has teamed up with Energy Saving Trust to share tips on getting help if you are struggling with energy bills and tips on how to cut energy costs around the home.*
People can make simple changes to save money on their energy bills and don’t need to wait until the colder months to do so.** These include:
Our tips
- Washing clothes at 30°C could save around £15 per year – and reducing the number of wash cycles by one per week could save a further £15
- Reducing shower time to four minutes could save a typical household as much as £75 a year
- Swapping one bath a week for a four-minute shower could save an average of £17 a year.
- Avoiding overfilling the kettle could save around £12 a year on electricity
- Draught-proofing windows and doors will help your home feel warmer and could save around £50 a year on bills.
- Turning appliances off at the switch when you’re not using them could save an average of £60 a year.
- Turning the thermostat down by 1°C could save around £115 a year.
Check you’re getting all the support you’re entitled to
Lifestyle changes won’t be possible for everyone and may not be enough to cover the hole in household budgets caused by higher prices, so Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire is also urging people to check they’re getting all the support they’re entitled to. This could include:
- Checking what benefits you’re entitled to by using a benefits calculator
- Warm Home Discount — a £150 annual discount if you get certain benefits
- Cold weather payments — payments if you get certain benefits and the weather is extremely cold
- Grants from your energy supplier — to help you pay off debts you may owe
For more information, visit the Citizens Advice website.
If you owe money to your energy supplier, you should speak to them as soon as possible. They’re responsible for helping you find a way to pay your bills.
Chantal Watts, Chief Executive Officer of Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire, said:
“We know lots of people are worried about how they’ll cover their energy bills this winter. So it’s important people know what support they’re entitled to and how to cut back on energy costs where they can.
“Every day we hear from people who are already doing everything they can, but sky-high costs mean it’s simply not enough. We want to remind anyone struggling they’re not alone, if you need support managing your bills, please contact us.”
Anyone in South Gloucestershire seeking free, independent, impartial and confidential advice from Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire can call 0808 278 7947.
The charity’s opening times and contact details are available at: www.southgloscab.org.uk/get-advice/visit-us/
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Notes to editors
- *Savings are for a typical three-bedroom, gas-heated home in Great Britain, using a gas price of 8p/kWh and electricity price of 30p/kWh. Correct as of July 2023. Water savings are based on the average 2.3 person household.
- **Not everyone will be able to make these changes due to different health and physical requirements.
- Our network of charities offers impartial advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free.
- Citizens Advice helped 2.55 million people face to face, over the phone, by email and webchat in 2021-22. And we had 40.6 million visits to our website. For full service statistics see our monthly publication Advice trends.
- 18,500 trained volunteers, working at over 2,500 service outlets across England and Wales, support Citizens Advice service staff
- Citizens Advice is the largest provider of free, multi-channel debt advice. Providing that help gives Citizens Advice unique insight into the types of debts people struggle with.
- Citizens Advice is the statutory consumer advocate for energy and postal markets. We provide supplier performance information to consumers and policy analysis to decision makers.
- You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 or 0808 223 1144 for Welsh language speakers.
- Energy Saving Trust is an independent organisation dedicated to promoting energy efficiency, low carbon transport and sustainable energy use. We aim to address the climate emergency and deliver the wider benefits of clean energy as the UK transitions to net zero. We empower householders to make better choices, deliver transformative programmes for governments and support businesses with strategy, research and assurance – enabling everyone to play their part in building a sustainable future. www.energysavingtrust.org.uk
Published 06/09/23.
