With winter on its way, it’s important to make sure your home’s as energy-efficient as possible and to check you’re getting the best deal on gas and electricity.
As part of Energy Saving Week, we hosted an online
question and answer session
with experts Greg Shreeve, from the Energy Saving Trust, and Lisa Greenfield, Confused.com’s energy analyst. Here’s a round-up of the queries that were put to the panel.
Question: I am with npower, and it’s reported the company is paying back millions of pounds to customers. Will I get a refund and how will it be paid?
Answer: Npower has agreed to pay back £70m to 2 million households due to changes it made to the way it charged customers in 2007.
If you were a customer during the period in question and you're in credit on your bill, npower may use this to offset your direct debit. You could ask them to credit it to your account so you don't have to pay anything for a few months, or even ask them to send you a cheque.
Question: I live in a 200-year-old house, and our loft is insulated to a depth of 300mm. Is this a sufficient depth for such an old draughty house or should we be putting on a further 300mm? We have been told that over-insulating is a waste of time.
Answer: The Energy Saving Trust’s recommended level of loft insulation is 270mm. It sounds as though you have more than this, so it is probably best to look at insulating other areas of your home, as extra loft insulation will not provide you with much extra in the way of energy saving.
If you have solid walls, you can look at solid internal wall insulation, which often come in the form of solid boards that you fit inside your home.
Question: Why do I have to pay more for my electricity because we don't have a gas supply to our village?
Answer: You'll pay more for your energy overall as you're not using gas in your home – while we're cooking and heating our homes with gas, you're using electricity, which is more expensive per unit. Suppliers offer more discounts if they're supplying both fuels to you but many of the tariffs on offer now give what's called a “No mains gas discount” for people like you. You can find out more on Confused.com.
Question: I pay £74 a month for electricity (we have no gas) in a rented one-bedroom flatI work during the day and haven't really had the heating on: this seems a lot to pay compared to friends with large houses and families. I have just swapped energy providers to a cheaper deal but do you have any tips generally to bring down energy usage? Is there certain things that take up electricity more? I don’t want to pay ridiculously over £74 when I start having to use heating!
Answer: That does seem a lot when you're on your own. However it's important to consider that you're not paying for gas which your friends may be. I'd recommend getting yourself an energy monitor so you can keep track of how much you're using – that way if you've left something switched on you'll know right away.
Some of the suppliers will send you a monitor for free. Otherwise, they're around £20-£30 to buy but are estimated to save you £150 per year. Here’s a Q&A on monitors.
One of the best ways to save is by looking at fitting electric storage heaters and switching to an economy 7 tariff, thereby getting the benefit of cheaper electricity at night. For the rest of your home, look at turning unused appliances off standby, replacing your appliances when necessary with the most energy efficient.
Also make sure that your immersion heater is only switched on when you need hot water: and insulate your hot water tank. You could also give your local council a call and ask what schemes they're running in your area for insulation installations.
Question: I am about to sell my (poorly insulated) house and need to get an energy performance certificate. Do you think the EPCs have had much of an impact on buyers or sellers? Do people take them seriously?
Answer: According to the latest poll ICM poll commissioned by the Energy Saving Trust, we found that approximately two-thirds of people think that an energy-efficient home should be worth more because it saves on heating bills. As people are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of energy efficiency I'd say that it is worth your while to try and improve your home's EPC rating.
Question: Can you tell me the best energy company to use for both gas and electric paying by direct debit? I live in Northampton.).
Answer: There is no one tariff is will be the best for everyone in your area as it will depend on your own personal energy usage. The best thing to do is to check with your energy company how many kWh you are using (as this is the most accurate way to compare energy prices) and using our comparison tool to switch to the deal that best fits your circumstances.
Question: Is it really the case that online dual fuel accounts accrue better discounts? Why is this?
Answer: The online tariffs are cheaper because the suppliers have less overheads as your account is managed entirely online: you provide meter readings online, view bills online and seek assistance online, which saves them money. They can therefore offer cheaper rates.
Paying by direct debit is normally cheaper because the companies know they won’t have to chase customers for payment.
Question: I'm a tenant in a fairly energy-inefficient flat. What can I do to encourage my landlord to make changes such as loft insulation? After all, it is me that will benefit rather than him.
Answer: You should point out that if/when he comes to sell the property, energy efficient homes are now considered to be worth more so he'll get his return on investment then.
There are letters on the Energy Saving Trust’s website that you can send to your landlord telling you about the benefits of improving the energy efficiency of your property.
Question: I’m interested in the idea of getting a discount off my bill by producing my own power. But how do I know if investing in solar panels or suchlike will be worth it? I live in Wales, and it’s cloudy all the time!
Answer: If you can afford the upfront costs of solar panels, and you have suitable roof then it is very likely that solar panels will be worth your while, especially given the introduction of the government’s feed-in tariff.
We'd first of all recommend that you maximise your savings by fully insulating your property. If you have already done that then why not try looking at the Energy Saving Trust’s cashback calculator to see how much you'd save with solar panels.
