FREE insulation & boilers

Energy efficiency can seriously cut bills. There are wads of freebies on offer from energy providers, from new boilers to loft and cavity wall insulation.

It's all part of their efficiency obligations to people in certain groups. The full Free Insulation & Boilers guide has more, but below's a taster of what you can get and what it'll save you.

Boiler replacement or repair. Heating accounts for around 60% of what you spend in a year on energy bills. The more efficient your boiler, the more heat it produces from each gas unit.

Depending on your boiler's age, a shiny new efficient one could save you up to £320/year. New boilers typically cost £2,300 – a fabulous freebie.

Cavity wall insulation. Most homes built since 1920 have a gap between internal and external walls. Filling the cavity with insulating mineral wool and foam means cold air's kept out, and warm air stays in. It can save an average three-bedroom home up to £150/year. We've heard of certain cases where damp has formed after having cavity wall insulation installed, so make sure it's appropriate for your home.

Loft insulation. Up to a quarter of your home's heat escapes via the roof, but you can solve this by laying mineral wool under the rafters, saving up to £130/year.

Got electricity only? You can still save

If you don't have a gas supply, don't think the rules are different. If you only have electricity you can still save serious cash using the comparisons. Use Cheap Energy Club or the other comparison sites listed above to compare electricity prices.

How to save if you're on a key/card meter

While new regulatory caps on how much prepay customers can be charged mean prices are generally lower, those on key or card meters are still pretty hard done to, certainly compared to those on billed meters. If possible, switch to one of these. You may have to pay, but the savings are usually worth it.

Often they won't let you though, due to credit score or income difficulties. For full info on how to ditch a prepayment meter for a billed meter, or if you can't, how to save on prepay, see the full Cheap Prepaid Gas & Elec guide.

Want green energy? Most can still save – though not as much

If you want to do your bit for the environment, there are plenty of 'green' tariffs available. You'll sometimes pay a premium on the very cheapest fixes for green energy, but you can still save £100s/year over big six standard rates.

These tariffs come in 'different shades of green'. Some suppliers promise to match your usage with energy generated from renewable sources – such as solar, wind or hydroelectric – while others will put money into renewable energy developments to boost the amount of green energy in the UK's national network.

Typically, it's only the electricity that's fully renewable. A few suppliers have started to offer 100% renewable gas, but it's rare.

Switch to monthly direct debit to save £90

Paying by monthly direct debit can cut bills by up to £90 each year, as companies are sure you won't default and they earn interest on any overpayments. So if you can do this, go for it.

Yet direct debits are usually based on an estimate of your usage. If that's wrong, you can end up over (or under) paying each month. Remember, even if you're on a fixed tariff, your direct debit can go up if your supplier thinks you'll use more energy.

Want to pay a fixed amount each month?

Some suppliers – including British Gas, E.on and Green Star Energy* – now offer so-called 'unlimited' tariffs, where you pay a fixed amount each month, regardless of how much energy you use.


Prices are based on what you used the year before, but they're not cheap. If you use the same, you'd be better with a cheap deal. Where they're good is if you are likely to use much more and are worried about the bill - for example, you've retired and are now at home all day.

But remember, these are one-year deals and the price depends on what you've used in the past. If your consumption does increase during your first year, your direct debit is likely to be higher if you go for the same deal again

What does the incoming price cap mean for my bill – and should I still think about switching?

Under the incoming rules, those on standard variable and default tariffs will see prices capped from 1 January 2019. Energy regulator Ofgem has set the cap at £1,137/year for someone on typical use.

That means the average big six standard variable tariff (SVT) price will drop from a typical £1,221/year to £1,137/year (for clarity, this doesn't mean £1,137/year is the most anyone pays – use more and your cap's higher).


Ofgem calls this a 'fair' tariff, but that doesn't make it a 'good' tariff – the cheapest deals are still far less.

And be aware, this cap will be updated every April and October. Since Ofgem first announced the proposed cap level in the summer, wholesale rates (what energy firms pay) have exploded, so some analysts and those within the energy industry predict it could be £110+ higher by next April.

Ofgem itself has warned an increase is likely, due to higher wholesale costs over the last year.

However, the real savings are still to be made from switching, and to encourage more people to change energy providers Ofgem has also been trialling other initiatives. These include targeting those that have been on standard tariffs for more than three years to highlight the savings they could make by moving suppliers, and organising a collective switch.

Ofgem has also announced plans for a one-day switch, which will eventually allow customers to switch by the end of the next working day.

What's behind the price cap move?


According to Ofgem, around 54% of customers – that's about 11 million households – are still on expensive standard tariffs, often paying £100s/year more for the same gas and electricity than the cheapest tariffs on the market.

To try to prevent these customers from being further ripped off, the Government has ordered Ofgem to set a level that suppliers can charge on their standard and default tariffs until 2020. This cap will come into force from 1 January 2019. This is in addition to the current price cap for prepayment customers.

Price cap mythbusting

We've seen lots of confusion over how the price cap will work – so here we answer some of the key questions we've seen and take you through some of the quirks of the new rules below.

Get CONSTANTLY cheap energy with MSE's free Cheap Energy Club

Our Cheap Energy Club is designed to keep you constantly on the cheapest tariff – fighting the fact most cheap deals only last one to two years before their rates rise. It does this by...


1-Finding you the cheapest deal. If you're already on it, great. If not, it'll help you switch. You usually get £25 cashback on top for a dual-fuel switch or £12.50 cashback for switching just gas or electricity.


2-Then monitoring your tariff constantly. Each month, without you doing anything, we do a background comparison to check yours is still cheapest.


3-Alerting you when it's time to switch (again). If you can save money switching either because your rate's changed, or others have, we'll tell you.

We've been swamped with positive feedback, such as:

Got to say thanks. I'll be saving a whopping £800 per year on my dual-fuel bill after using your Cheap Energy Club. Was hoping for £300 so this is amazing (a tad annoyed with myself that I didn't do it sooner!)


Consider myself money-savvy, but just done your energy supplier swap and saved £548 a year.

@MartinSLewis saved me £552/year + £30 cashback – my first switch in 15 years!

We've also added some improvements to Cheap Energy Club, including filters that let you search for tariffs from your current supplier or by big-name suppliers only, among others

Cheap Energy Club also let you filter which tariffs will be eligible for the Warm Home Discount. This is a Government discount of £140 you can get during winter – if you qualify. It also shows which tariffs are made of 100% renewable electricity.

And finally, in the past our alert emails went just to the person who registered, but lots of you said you wanted somebody else copied in, so we've added that function too. Do it when you register, or add them to the account details page if you're already a member.

Try it, and let us know what you think at energyclub@moneysavingexpert.com

Comparison sites don't always show all tariffs by default

It's also possible to get cashback for switching from comparison sites. Bear in mind though that some comparison sites by default only show you tariffs you can switch to via them (ie, where they're paid commission). This filters out some results – Cheap Energy Club shows you ALL those available by default.

If you do use a comparison site always make sure you've selected the option to show all available tariffs to get the full picture before making a decision.

What about automatic switching?

There are a number of auto-switching companies – such as Flipper, Labrador, Lookaftermybills and Weflip – which promise to continuously switch you to cheap deals, without you having to do anything.

These services use computer algorithms to constantly track and identify potential savings based on your energy use, meter type and current tariff.

When you can save a certain amount – usually factoring in any exit fees on your current deal – they will automatically switch you.

Most are free to use, though Flipper charges an annual subscription – which you only pay if you can save by switching.

Automatic switching is something we've been looking at and lobbying regulators about for a couple of years now, and we hope to offer it ourselves some point soon.

Gas & Electricity

As we've warned before, the cheapest energy deals are disappearing fast. Plus, we've seen four of the big six hike their prices TWICE this year, leaving millions facing higher bills. This is why we've shouted about switching for years as the cheapest deals are for those who act. So do a five-minute energy comparison – most could save £270/year.

1-Now's a great time to switch energy tariff – prices are up this year

All of the big suppliers have hiked prices this year, including four which have hit customers twice...

British Gas increased its standard variable tariff for the second time on 1 October. Prices rose by 4%, adding £44/yr to a typical dual-fuel bill, to take it to £1,205/yr. It follows a 5.5% rise in May.


EDF raised its standard prices for the second time on Friday 31 August. Prices went up up by 6% – adding an average £70/yr to take its typical standard dual-fuel bill to £1,228/yr. This follows a 1.4% hike on Thursday 7 June.

E.on hiked its standard prices by 4.8% on Thursday 16 August. Typical dual-fuel bills have risen by £55/yr, from £1,153/yr to £1,208/yr. E.on also scrapped a £20/yr dual-fuel discount and £5/yr per fuel paperless billing discount on Thursday 19 April.


Npower hiked its standard variable tariff by 5.5% on Sunday 17 June. Typical dual-fuel bills have risen by £64 from £1,166/yr to £1,230/yr.


Scottish Power hiked its standard tariff for the second time on 8 October. The 3.7% average rise added £46/yr to a typical dual-fuel bill, increasing the price from £1,211/yr to £1,257/yr. It last increased prices in June by £64.

SSE raised its prices by 7.8% – including a 6.7% hike to its rates plus the removal of a £6 per fuel annual discount – on Wednesday 11 July. Its standard tariff saw a rise from £1,109/yr to £1,196/yr based on typical use – an £87/yr increase.


If you're on a standard tariff with any of these companies it's likely you're massively overpaying.

What about Ofgem's Price Cap?

Energy regulator Ofgem is introducing a price on 1 January 2019 on all standard and default tariffs - see what does the price cap mean for our full analysis.

This means a typical user on a standard variable or default fixed tariff would pay a maximum of £1,137/yr on average, paying by monthly direct debit, or £1,221/yr for non-direct debit households – though your maximum will vary depending on where you live and how much energy you use.

There are still much cheaper deals available to switches, and with the level of the cap set to rise when Ofgem next review it in April, don't be fooled. You could save £100s/year by switching – see our Cheap Energy Club to find the best deal for you.

Compare to find YOUR cheapest price (plus possible cashback)

The winner depends on where you live and your usage, so use our Cheap Energy Club top picks comparison to find YOUR exact winner (plus £25 switchers dual-fuel cashback) – it only take five minutes. Here's an example of savings...

The Cheapest Dual Fuel Deals (based on typical usage)
Find YOUR cheapest & YOUR SAVING via Cheap Energy Club

TARIFF	SUPPLIER	COST/YEAR	EXIT FEE	CASHBACK VIA CHEAP ENERGY CLUB
Typical big six standard tariff	-	£1,221	-	-
Cheapest deal (fixed for 12 months)	Utility Point	£903	£30 / fuel	None
Cheapest long fix (34 months)	Engie	£1,061	£30 / fuel	£25
Cheapest big six fix (12 months)	British Gas (1)	£1,052	£30 / fuel	£25