How to Beat Fuel Poverty

This is a guest post. 


Increasing demand for oil has pushed fuel prices up to previously unthinkable levels. This will leave many households across the UK in a state of fuel poverty.
This article will give you some tips on how you can beat fuel poverty this winter and stay warm and safe.


SO, WHAT IS FUEL POVERTY?


You are deemed to be in fuel poverty if you need to spend 10% or more of your income on gas or electricity. Many households are finding this year that they fall into that bracket whereas they might not have done last year. Things like wage freezes, redundancies and cuts to vital services have meant that many people are poorer now than they were 12 months ago.
With this in mind, rises in fuel prices can make a desperate situation even more desperate – a despicable and completely unnecessary state of affairs in a supposedly civilised 21st Century UK.

HOW CAN I MAKE SURE I STAY WARM THIS WINTER?


Here are some things that might help:

SAVE

If you haven’t started yet, start now. Winter lasts until March, and since it’s November, you have more than a couple of months where you can save a little money each week?
Are you on a fixed income such as disability benefits or DLA? Even saving as little as £2 a week in a jar means you have a little emergency fund to tap into should you need it.

If you can save more, consider setting up an online saver where you can just transfer your savings into when you get paid. Alternatively, use an account you hardly ever use and keep the card in a safe but not too accessible place.

INVEST IN SOLAR PV

Yes the feed-in tariffs have been cut by more than 50% with effect from the 12th December 2011 but you will still really benefit financially by investing in solar.

Here’s why:

• The feed-in tariff entitles you to payments for every kWh of energy you generate using your solar panels and also for the energy you sell to the National Grid.
• You’ll of course save money on your energy bills since you’ll be happily generating your own.

CUT DOWN ON YOUR ENERGY USAGE

• Are you making a cup of tea? Only fill up your kettle with the amount of water you are using right there and then. Too many people make the mistake of filling up the kettle when making a cup of tea because they might use the water later. For a start, stagnant water is horrible. Also, you use more energy boiling a whole kettle than you do when you boil a cup’s worth. If you are like most people and really like your tea, you could see your energy usage drop by following this advice.
• Do you like a hot bath? Of course you do. Well a lot of people take hot water on demand for granted and assume this is the norm. What if we told you that you could save up to £25 a week by only turning your hot water on when you need it? Is that the sound of a switch flicking we hear?

Follow these tips and hopefully you will have warmer winters.

Find out more about PV solar by heading across to http://www.tecg.co.uk.

This is a sponsored post.