Energy prices for millions of households could rise by another £1,000 by October, the boss of the industry body has warned as gas prices continue to soar.
Emma Pinchbeck, chief executive of Energy UK, said the average household might be forced to pay between £2,500 and £3,000 per year for their supplies.
It would mean energy prices more than doubling from the current cap, which is set at £1,277 per year for the average household.
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The cap is already scheduled to rise to £1,971 from the beginning of April.
However, the predictions are very early and based on today's data, so are likely to change before the October price cap is announced this summer.
But in light of April's increase, online heating specialists, BestHeating, have revealed five of the best ways to lower energy usage and save as much money as possible when bills rise.
Turn the heating down by one degree – save up to £80
Turning down the heating may seem like an obvious way to save money on your bills, but try putting the thermostat down by 1°C to see how you feel and if you’re fine, the heating was set too high.
Many of us are guilty of putting the heating on too high and most are happy with a setting around 18 °C so doing this can save an estimated £80 or up to 10% on a fuel bill.
Install eco-lights – save up to £30
The type of bulb you are using could be raising energy bills so switch to more economic ones to instantly lower costs.
Lights with LED or CFL bulbs can save the average household an estimated £3 per bulb per year, so in a three-bedroomed property with two bathrooms that is as much as £30 without even using less electricity.
Replacing all the bulbs in your home to LED could even reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by up to 40kg a year.
Bleed your radiators – save up to £130
A quick and simple job to save money on energy bills is to bleed your radiators which will improve efficiency as this releases air that is trapped inside.
A tell-tale sign a radiator needs bleeding is cold spots around the top of the appliance, which means hot water isn’t able to fill all of the radiators, making it less effective and wasting money in the process.
More economical and new radiators can save as much as 10% on heating bills.
Check and replace loft and wall insulation – save up to £200
A quarter of the heat lost from a home is through poorly insulated roof spaces so this should be the first place you look when trying to improve the efficiency of your house.
The recommended depth of loft insulation is between 220-270mm, which has more than doubled in the last few years.
If your house is old it may have just 100mm depth so change this to the recommended amount to save as much as £200 on energy bills.
An added bonus is this will last for decades so could save you thousands in the long run.
Only heat the room you use – save up to £115
Heating an unused space is adding needless money to energy bills, so ensure radiators are turned off in rooms that are not in use, such as the bedroom every morning when you leave for work.
Doing this will make your boiler work more efficiently, allowing the room you are in to warm up faster and saving as much as £115 if your heating is used daily.
Don’t turn off any radiators in the room the thermostat is in or else it will affect the temperature of the rest of your home.
BestHeating’s Jess Steele said: “Bills will rise sharply in the next year following the recent announcement by Ofgem so it is essential to do all we can to keep our energy bills as low as possible.
"There are plenty of ways to make small savings such as ensuring appliances are turned off instead of being placed in standby and purchasing draught excluders for just a few pounds to keep a room heated for longer.
“Whilst your bills will still increase due to the ruling, making small changes to cut back on the amount of inefficient energy being used will have a strong impact, potentially saving hundreds in the process which can be used elsewhere.”
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