Those Struggling To Pay Winter Heating Bills.
Up 80%.
Almost 80% of Brits will cut back on regular outgoings in order to pay for their winter heating, it’s been reported. Around 38% of Brits worry that they will not be able to pay for their heating costs this year. A figure, which is up 80% on last year. Worryingly 15% anticipate there will be days when their family will have to go cold this winter.
People are making sacrifices to ensure they can keep warm this winter, which include:
- Spend less on shopping (26%)
- Eating out less and having fewer takeaways (34%)
- Fewer nights out (22%)
Over 55’s are less likely to make cut backs to allow for heating costs, while 83% of young adults between the ages of 25 and 34 are prepared to make sacrifices.
If long range predictions are correct, winter 19/20 could be a cold one, which inevitably means the heating will be on more, and thus heating costs will rise.
There are a number of things you can do to lower your heating costs:
Switch providers – depending on your contract, you may make a saving by switching your gas/electricity to another provider.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change – suggest that using Direct Debit could possibly save you £90 on gas and £66 on electricity annually, compared to using standard credit.
You’re paying for heat loss – Don’t think of heating as a cost to warm a home, think of it as a cost to compensate for heat loss. The less heat loss you have, the less you have to pay. So ensure your home is as well insulated as possible.
Heating all rooms? – Chances are you don’t need to heat all rooms in your home. Lower costs by just heating one room or a few rooms you use. If you’re using gas/oil central heating, use the radiator valve in each unused room to shut off heating for that room. Using a high efficiency gas or electric fire, or wood burning stove in your living room, or whatever room you tend to spend most time in will help you save.
Think more efficiently – Getting into the habit of being more energy aware will save you untold sums of money. Untold as we can’t give you an exact figure. But it could be significant! Thinking more efficiently will include things like turning lights off in rooms you are not in, lowering your heating by 1 degree at a time, take shorter showers, layer clothes before turning the heating up. The list of things you can do is long…
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