There will undoubtedly be a collective sigh of relief in millionsof British households this morning at the announcement that the energy pricecap will fall by almost 12 per cent from April 1. That will mean the bill for atypical dual-fuel household paying by direct debit is at its lowest for morethan two years - and there is further good news with a forecast for anotherreduction of 10 per cent from July.
People have been hammered by high energy prices since early 2022but it is too early to declare ‘crisis over.
Remember, this new price cap of £1,690 is still almost a thirdmore than what you were paying two winters ago and it is doubtful we will seegas and electric bills fall to anything like pre-pandemic levels anytime soon.
We remain vulnerable to political and economic events that couldsee bills rise again so that is why people should invest the ‘savings’ theymake this year in products like smart thermostats to give themselves a level ofprotection against the inevitable wave of increases.
We estimate that someone who bought a smart thermostat beforeprices began to rise in early 2022 would have already saved up to £470 by nowand recouped their original outlay within a few months.
That is before they could add additional savings through changingtheir heating behaviour - lowering a home’s set temperature by a barelynoticeable 1°C saves 6 per cent, which will be about £46. Taking advantage ofthings like dynamic energy tariffs to shift your consumption to times of theday when energy prices are cheaper will also hopefully become more prevalent in the UK to further push down bills.
People are happy to make changes when offered alternatives thatcut their shopping bills or the cost of travelling to work, so is it anydifferent to invest in reducing high energy costs?
We should all welcome the respite of lower energy bills, but thecertainty of future price rises means now is really the time to get smart aboutheating.
Christian Deilmann is the co-founder and chief product officer ofsmart thermostat manufacturer and home energy management company tado°
