Speak to your local council
Councils have got a new tranche of £500m for the Household Support Fund - to prioritise money to meet essential costs and we understand you don’t need to be on benefits to claim.
Click on the relevant link below for your local Berkshire unitary authority.
West Berkshire, Bracknell Forest, Wokingham Borough, Reading Borough, Slough Borough and Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead
£150 Government Energy Rebate
Recently, the Government announced that around 20 million households in England in Council Tax bands A-D will get a £150 rebate from April.
Customer who paid their Council Tax on 1 April - these should be received by Direct Debit within the next 14 days.
Those who pay by Direct Debit on 15 and 21 April should get their payment before the end of April.
Customers in Bands A to D who do not pay by Direct Debit should be contacted shortly with information on how they can claim their Rebate.
Top tips on cutting your energy costs from our Energy Advice Expert, Helen Dean
Turn your thermostat down.
This is one of the easiest things to do. For each degree you cut the thermostat, expect to cut bills by 4%-ish, or about £65 a year on average for a typical home. So consider popping on a jumper at home and seeing what temperature your household is comfortable at.
Use LED light bulbs, and turn lights off when you leave a room
LED uses about half the energy of the bigger fluorescent spiral 'energy-saving bulbs'.
Some worry that constantly turning lights on and off wastes energy but, according to the Energy Saving Trust, you’re better turning lights off when you leave the room, no matter how long for. It reckons you could save £14 a year doing this.
Deal with draughts
Walk round your home spotting window and door draughts. Decent draught-proofing can cut 2% off energy bills, so about £30 a year on average for a typical home. This applies to chimneys too, where you can get a 1.5%-ish further reduction.
Don't leave your devices on standby
Switching off your devices is better than leaving them on standby, of course, as otherwise you're using energy for something you're not making use of. The Energy Saving Trust have stated you could save as much as £40 a year doing this.
Wash more clothes less, and try not to use the tumble drier
Full loads are much more cost effective than half loads, or washing a few items. The savings aren't huge, around £10 a year for modern machines, but can be much more with old ones. You could also try doing your washing on a cooler setting – if you reduce your washing temperatures from 40 to 30 degrees, you could cut £12 off your bills a year.
Only boil the water you need in the kettle
The more water you boil, the more energy you use. Be conscious about this when filling the kettle, so you don't overfill. Simple, but effective, with a saving of £8 a year possible.
Thank you to Berkshire Community Foundation for providing funding support to our Family Fuel & Water Poverty Project
Lisa recently received one-to-one telephone support from Helen with her fuel bills and said the following;
"I thought I was ok sorting out my bills before the telephone advice from Helen. Now I'm aware how much I could save by tweaking just a few simple things. Having the advice eased my mind to know that I could be saving instead of worrying so much. Helen gave some brilliant advice, she's very polite, and friendly. The advice I received was excellent and she made it easy to understand instead of just having stuff thrown at you to work out. "
Following the support Lisa received from Helen she was able to save £260 per year on her energy bills!
