How to find a deal as gas and electricity bills as prices surge

The jump will equate to a rise of £18 a month for the average household using both electricity and gas.

The typical household is now facing an annual energy cost of £1,862, up £221 on current levels, with early forecasts that this will rise further still in October.

How to get a better deal for gas and electricity

Martin Lewis has long suggested households should check the market and look for better deals – often in the form of a fixed tariff.

He says get off the Energy Price Cap – or the ‘pants cap’, as he calls it. The Money Saving Expert founder added that the cheapest fix depends on where you live and how much you use, so urged billpayers to do a comparison.

He says to choose the best-fixed deal, customers should use a comparison site that takes in the whole market by default rather than cutting out some suppliers who do not pay to be listed. 

He recommended his own  Cheap Energy Club , as it compares all energy deals, rather than just the sponsored options.

“And remember that when you do a comparison, remember that the savings you’re given on the cheapest fix are compared to the current price cap,” he says.

How do I start the switching process?

As a rule of thumb, Which? recommends looking for deals – start with a price comparison website – that are cheaper than the price cap (this is where comparing gas and electricity unit rates is important, rather than looking at headline figures), not longer than 12 months and without significant exit fees.

Price comparison site Uswitch said households can currently lock in a rate that undercuts the July cap by around £250 for the average home, warning: “For anyone still on a standard tariff, your bill will go up unless you act.”

What else can I do to cut my bills?

There are other ways to potentially save on your energy bills, including checking if your energy supplier offers free electricity, such as British Gas’s PeakSave or E.on’s Pledge tariff. This could help to reduce your bill without cutting back on usage.

Households should also check and adjust their boiler flow settings: If you have a combi boiler, reducing the flow temperature to 60C or below could lower your bills.

Using an air fryer instead of an oven will cut energy usage, as will turning down the thermostat, running the washing machine in off-peak hours and taking appliances off standby.

It is also important to avoid estimated bills. If you don’t have a smart meter, send regular meter readings to your supplier to ensure direct debits are set at the right amount.

What is the energy price cap?

The term is quite confusing and it’s important to note it’s not the maximum price you will pay – it’s an average. If you use more, you will pay more.

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The cap was introduced on January 1 2019 by regulator Ofgem, with the aim of preventing the millions of households on expensive variable tariffs from being ripped off.

But it only limits what you pay for each unit of gas and electricity that you use .

It’s based roughly on wholesale energy prices (those that firms pay) and applies only to providers’ standard and default tariffs, which the vast majority of households are now on.