October 18th, 2021 by Sarah Miles

Nobody could have failed to realise that there is a global energy crisis and that this is likely to affect everyone who pays an energy bill in the UK. The story has dominated the headlines over the last few weeks, speaking of global energy shortages, rising wholesale prices, soaring bills for consumers, and multiple suppliers failing. Understandably then, this is a worrying time for people as we head into winter.

In this article, we aim to explain what the energy crisis actually is, as well as how you can take back some control to help you manage your energy costs.

Why do we have an energy crisis?

Numerous factors have had an impact on the price and availability of gas (and it’s worth noting that gas is also required to produce electricity, so it affects all energy supplies). Individually, the market may have experienced temporary disruptions but would have been able to resolve them relatively easily. The ‘perfect storm’ of them all coming at the same time has created a huge problem globally. These factors include:

• Winter 2020/21 was colder than average and lasted longer, plus many of us were at home a lot more due to lockdowns. This meant that consumption of gas increased
• Demand for gas has started to exceed supply, depleting national stockpiles. This inflates the price
• As economies start to open up again after lockdowns, demand has increased even further, putting more pressure on supplies
• In the UK, wind-generated power production is lower than average following a calm summer
• Worker shortages and disruptions to freight distribution post-Brexit have also compounded the issues here.

Things you can and can’t control

Being a global issue, there are many aspects to this problem that we, as consumers, have no control over. There are few advantages to be gained in switching energy suppliers, as all tariffs are high, plus many will find themselves being switched automatically to new suppliers by Ofgem as theirs cease trading. Many will find themselves on much higher tariffs as a consequence.

That said, there is something we can all do to take some control over costs, and that is to take measures to use less energy. Don’t worry; we’re not just going to tell you to switch the heating off and put on an extra jumper! Due to the fact that most of us waste energy to some degree, there are a number of things we can all do to reduce consumption without necessarily compromising how warm we feel over the winter.

Reducing your energy consumption

The following things can all help you to use less energy:

• Use smart technology
  Smart technology helps you use energy more intelligently, so you only use it when and where you actually need it rather than heating spaces that are unoccupied. Have systems such as Hive or Nest installed on your central heating or buy smart enabled plug-in heaters. You can then manage the heating from an app on your phone from wherever you are.

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• Reduce heat loss around windows and doors
  35% of the heat you produce in your home can be lost through your walls, doors, and windows. Cavity wall insulation and energy-efficient windows will certainly minimise this, but it will also help to plug up any gaps around openings, use draught excluders, and hang heavy curtains.
• Change window and door ‘behaviour’
  It’s all very well making sure any gaps around windows and doors are sealed but then leaving them open and allowing huge amounts of heat to escape. Don’t have the heating on and then open the windows for fresh air (or use heaters with open window detection that will shut down if it detects a sudden drop in temperature). Get into better habits like not leaving the door open when the dog goes out to do their business, keeping internal doors shut, or closing the curtains as soon as it gets dark.
• Use energy-efficient appliances
  Boilers that haven’t been serviced for years or old plug-in heaters that you drag out of the garage every winter cost a lot to run because they’re not efficient. By maintaining your boiler properly or upgrading to Lot 20 compliant heaters, you will get lower running costs for better heat production.
• Heat yourself rather than the room
  Traditional convection heating works by heating the air in the room, but if there are only a couple of people in that space it may be more efficient to apply direct heat to those people – especially in bedrooms. Electric blankets and heated throws will keep you really warm (often warmer than you will feel in a heated room) for minimal running costs.
• Allow radiators and heaters the space to work
  In order to heat a room, a radiator or heater needs to warm the air around it and then allow that air to circulate through the room. If there is no space around it, due to the close proximity of furniture or clothes being dried on there, it will produce the same amount of heat (and therefore cost the same) but you won’t feel the benefit of it. Freestanding heaters also give you more flexibility to place them in the best position to maximise the space around them.

Hopefully, this article has given you some insight into the energy crisis as well as a few ideas to mitigate its impact.