Big Energy Saving Week
will take place from 27-31 January 2014. Citizens Advice Scotland is working with Citizens Advice
(England & Wales) on this campaign to ensure that consumers are able to
manage their fuel bills; by spreading awareness of methods to save money and
energy, signposting consumers to information and helping those experiencing
problems to access support.
If you want to know how you can
benefit from the campaign, please see our ten top tips below!
You can
also find out about how to check you are on the most suitable tarriff, find out
how to switch if you are not, and how to contact your energy
supplier on the Big
Energy Saving week website: www.bigenergysavingweek.org.uk
Please
note that the information website is hosted by our collegues at Citizens Advice
(England and Wales) and may link to English and Welsh content. Please make
sure the information you are reading applies to Scotland.
Ten top tips to help you
check, switch and insulate:-
1. Check your bills carefully
and read your meter regularly. This will
allow you to check how much energy you use and make sure you’re paying the
right amount.
2. Talk to your supplier if
you think your bill is wrong or if you have problems paying. They’ll be able to give you advice about
available support or talk you through repayment options.
3. If money is tight, contact
your local Citizens Advice Bureau. They
can check to see if you are getting the benefits you are entitled to, or if you
can get help paying your bills.
4. Make sure that you’re on
the cheapest tariff. Check with your
supplier and use an accredited switching website to see who’s offering the best
deal. Tariffs are changing in 2014 so it
is important that you are aware of your current deal and any changes your
supplier is planning.
5. Most energy suppliers
offer fixed price tariffs, where the price of a unit of energy will stay the
same for the length of the deal. These
can work out cheaper in the long term and make it easier to budget – although you
might need to pay by direct debit and your bills will still go up if you use
more energy.
6. If you use a pre-payment meter, remember that standing charges will be added daily – even when you aren’t
using energy. Check how much they are
and keep your meter topped up even during warm weather to avoid unexpected
charges.
7. If you use heating oil as
your main fuel, buy before winter and see if there are any local oil buying
clubs you can join. If not, you might
want to start your own.
8. Make your home energy
efficient – insulate lofts and walls, double glaze or use thick curtains to
keep the heat in, and get your boiler serviced or replaced to ensure it is
energy efficient. There are schemes to
help with this.
9. Save money and energy –
don’t leave appliances on standby or leave laptops and mobile phones on charge
unnecessarily. Fix leaking taps and
always turn off the light when you leave a room.
10. Do a home energy check to
find out about savings of up to £250 a year on household energy bills. Visit the Energy Saving Trust home energy
check at hec.est.org.uk. Use this check
to get a full report with details of your home’s energy use and the savings you
could make.
Depending on where you live,
Big Energy Saving Week may be coming to a town near you..
For more information,
visit www.bigenergysavingweek.org.uk
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