Reports have emerged this morning that energy bills will cost the average household £3000 a year, prompting the vital conversation to be had around the defunct practice of switching suppliers. With household energy bills set to increase by 40% in October, thousands of homeowners might be tempted to rely on traditional methods of reducing their energy tariffs by changing their suppliers. However, sustainability expert Mark Sait, CEO and Founder of SaveMoneyCutCarbon – the platform that helps people use their energy more effectively – argues that the behaviour that was once successful in saving money is now rendered obsolete and ineffective.
Historically, when household owners found their energy bills creeping up, they could scour energy comparison sites to find what companies would offer the best deals to reduce their monthly outgoings. However, through a combination of rapidly rising inflation, the cost of energy soaring and the aftermath of a global pandemic, providers are now charging premium costs to stay afloat. The reality? The system can no longer be tricked – tariff swapping doesn’t work.
According to Ofgem, last year, the cost of moving customers of failed companies to new suppliers came to £94 per household, including new suppliers having to buy extra gas at short notice while prices were at record highs and replacing lost customers’ credit balances and green levy payments. So what can we do? It comes to light that 40% of Brits are desperate to seek ways to reduce their energy consumption but have no idea where to start.
Mark Sait of SaveMoneyCutCarbon discusses how a change in our behaviour and how we interact with our energy is the most effective way to reduce our outgoings:
“We recently conducted research which found that 40% of Brits are seriously concerned about the rise in energy bills, but haven’t changed their behaviour as a result because they don’t know how. As a nation, we are not too well informed on how we can go about cutting costs. What we have done, however, is find ways to cut corners and swap energy suppliers which may have worked traditionally, but from what we know now – this is no longer the case. The truth is that meerkats are dead.”
“This is not to say we have run out of hope. We simply need to alter how we use energy, what we are using within our homes and businesses, and not to fall into traps of temptation that are offered by energy swapping services. For example, something as simple as changing your lightbulb could go a significant way in lowering your annual spendings.
“Let’s take the standard 60-watt light bulb common across millions of UK households. If this is on 10 hours per day in your home or business at an average of 11p electricity charge per unit, it will cost you £23 pounds per year to run one such lamp in your home”.
“Now let’s move to a good quality LED lamp (same shape, same fitting, same light) this will reduce your energy consumption by 90%. So now the same lamp will cost you only £3.40 to run a year, saving for each lamp circa £19.00 per year”.
“Our ever-growing customer base at SaveMoneyCutCarbon can do the maths, so why can’t our Government? We need to deliver real savings to UK homes if we are to hit carbon targets and help the planet, it’s not about swapping suppliers every 5 minutes as the system continues to promote, it’s about real long-term behavioural change. We have hundreds of products from eco-smart technology water-saving shower heads right down to affordable laundry eggs that can save consumers far more than the old tricks in the books used to.”
About SaveMoneyCutCarbon:
SaveMoneyCutCarbon was established in 2012 and is the go-to brand to help homes & businesses be more sustainable by reducing energy, water, and carbon, all while saving money.
SaveMoneyCutCarbon provides proven products plus exclusive tools, knowledge and guides to help support everybody at every stage of their sustainability journey. Homes, trades, and small businesses are serviced via tailored online shopfronts, while larger enterprise customers benefit from an end-to-end service from the initial audit, generating a decarbonisation roadmap to final fit. Last year alone SaveMoneyCutCarbon’s customers collectively saved 727 million litres of water, 23 million kWh of energy, and thousands of pounds as a result. To download the app – search ‘SaveMoneyCutCarbon Home’, available on both Apple and Android
