Beat The Increases In Energy Costs

The UK is going to see an ever increasing reliance on imported energy in the coming years which means it will become more susceptible to world prices for gas and oil. The knock-on effect for consumers is an overall increase in prices for heating and electricity and even more volatility than has been seen in recent years (or are most of the price changes upwards?). The reason for increased reliance on imports is a reduction in current generating capacity with the closure of old nuclear and coal power stations, a reduction in gas reserves in the North Sea and an insatiable appetite for power from an increasing population. 

So how can consumers minimise the increases? 

Green Deal

We could look at the Green Deal and take out a loan on our property and hope that it will pay for itself, hope, because there is no guarantee. I wrote about The Green Deal Joke when it was announced as there is so much that makes it to be extremely wary of. If you need a loan to make energy efficiency improvements it's probably cheaper to go to a bank.

Switch Suppliers

All suppliers are doing their best to tempt us with offers so check around and if you can take the risk of the switch not going wrong then it might be worth it. At the end of the day though all suppliers have to go to the same market to buy their energy, they are just the middle-men.

Use Less Energy

Look around your home and switch off at the sockets electrical devices that aren't in use. Never leave phone chargers plugged in. Turn TVs off and not on standby. Turn your heating down a degree or two. Put an extra layer of clothing when it is cold. If you can't do these 5 simple things you have no right to complain about increased energy costs.

Energy costs will be going up in the coming years, it's been on the cards for ages, but we don't have to sit back and take it. We can all be more proactive about how we deal with it.