Up and down the UK,wizened old women and haggard old men are trudging to the edge of cliffs,pointing vaguely out to sea,one ancient eye closed against the wind."W-winter is c-coming,"they warn,a blanket clutched around their eerie little shoulders.They live in shacks."Winter is coming."
These seasonal soothsayers are well regarded by the UK's energy companies,because the UK's energy companies-dominated by the Big Six of EDF,E.ON,Centrica,SEE,Scottish Power and npower,who control 99 per cent of the domestic energy market-see this whole winter thing that is a-blowing in as an opportunity to make money.And they make that money by charging residents an inflated price for their energy.
Which is why this week Energyhelpline.com has compiled an estimate of what residential fuel bills will on average hit this winter,and after much mashing of fingers on calculators,their experts have come up with this annual figure:£1,428,per household,just for gas and electricity.
According to the consumer service,this leap-predicted to be around nine per cent after SSE upped their gas prices by the same figure earlier this month-would add a total of£3 billion to the nationwide household expenditure in the UK,which obviously already is running in the many millions.
"We predict that by[October]all the major suppliers will follow SSE's lead and announce price increases of at least nine per cent,"said Energhelpline.com's Mark Todd."Now really is the last chance saloon for consumers to win the battle of the bills before more suppliers pull the better tariffs and prepare for January price rises."
So with that in mind,now is a good time to make changes to your home to minimise the amount of energy needed to run it.Insulating lofts and installing double glazing are both great ways to battle heat loss,while LED lighting-such as those LED bathroom ceiling spotlights available from Scotlight-illuminate your home while greatly reducing your electricity spend.
