On the money: Fuel costs force Brits to Blitz style rationing

Can you afford to heat your home? Half of Londoners fear they will have to ration because of the high cost of energy, a survey warns.

There’s little wonder. The average yearly energy bill in London is £2058, according to calculations from Compare The Market. Across the country the average bill is just £1135, so those in the capital have to find an extra £923 to pay for their gas and electricity.

Three out of five Londoners say they are worried about increasing energy costs and one in three say they couldn’t afford a rise in prices. It means a cold snap could force hundreds of thousands to stick on extra layers rather than turn up the heating and face a bigger bill.

“It seems incredible that many Londoners are fuel rationing on a regular basis,” said Peter Earl of the comparison site.

“While rationing is more associated with the Blitz than the modern day, it is clear that many Londoners are feeling the pinch to the extent that they would sooner go cold and keep costs down, rather than turn their heating up.”

There are several ways you can keep energy bills down, and many of them are relatively easy to adopt.

Getting into the habit of turning off lights when you leave a room and switching off unused appliances is a good start.

Turning off appliances rather than leaving them on standby mode will save £30 a year, and switching off the lights will cut bills by a further £14, advises the Energy Saving Trust.

It reckons draught-proofing your home by blocking gaps in windows, doors and floorboards will save another £25 a year. And you could save £75 a year by using room thermostats, a programmer and thermostatic radiator valves.

But the biggest saving you could make is by switching your energy tariff. If you have never switched supplier, or not done so in recent years, you could save around £300 by moving.

That’s because standard tariffs that most people are on are among the most expensive ways to buy.

In fact two-thirds of homes are almost certainly paying more for their heating and lighting than they need to because they have remained loyal to a supplier.

Switching these days should be simple and it should take only a few minutes to search online to find a better deal.

Your new supplier should be able to make all the arrangements to transfer your details and help to cut the cost of heating your home.

But you may not even need to move to another company: if you’re on a variable tariff, your existing supplier will certainly have a cheaper fixed deal, which means switching to save could just take a quick phone call.