How to reduce your energy bills:
what actually works.
A typical household pays £1,723 a year at the October capped rates. Here is what genuinely brings that down, ranked by impact, and what barely matters.
Start with your tariffThree things move an energy bill more than everything else combined: your tariff, your heating, and your insulation. Check the tariff first because it is the fastest: if you are on a standard variable tariff you pay the capped rates (26.32p/kWh electricity, 7.97p/kWh gas from 1 October 2026), and some fixed deals can come in below them. Then work on heating, the biggest slice of most bills. Gadget-level tips like unplugging chargers make far less difference than people think.
The five levers that actually move the bill
Check your tariff
Five minutes, no cost, no tools. If you have never switched or your fixed deal ended quietly, you are on the standard variable tariff at the capped rates. Some fixed deals can beat the cap, and fixing also locks your price against the January review. What to check before fixing.
Take control of your heating
Heating is the biggest component of most UK bills, so small changes compound. Lowering the thermostat by one degree is commonly estimated to cut heating use by several percent over a winter. Heat the hours you are home rather than the whole day, and use thermostatic radiator valves to stop heating empty rooms.
Lower your boiler's flow temperature
Most combi boilers are set to run hotter than they need to. Turning the flow temperature down to around 60°C lets the boiler run in condensing mode more of the time, which usually improves efficiency without making the house colder. It takes two minutes on the boiler's front panel and costs nothing.
Stop the heat escaping
Draught-proofing doors, windows, and letterboxes is the cheapest insulation there is. Loft insulation is the biggest single upgrade for most homes that lack it. If you are on certain benefits, insulation upgrades may be free through government schemes: see help with energy bills.
Target the expensive appliances
Anything that makes heat costs the most to run. Fewer tumble dryer cycles, washing at 30°C, batch-cooking oven use, and shorter electric showers save more than switching everything else off at the wall combined. The table below shows why.
How to reduce your electricity bill
At the October 2026 capped rate, electricity costs an average of 26.32p per kWh. That one number tells you where the money goes: appliances that make heat use kilowatt-hours quickly, and low-power electronics barely register. Rough running costs at the capped rate:
| Appliance use | Rough energy used | Rough cost at 26.32p/kWh |
|---|---|---|
| Tumble dryer, one cycle | ~2.5 kWh | ~66p |
| Electric oven, one hour | ~2 kWh | ~53p |
| Electric shower, 10 minutes | ~1.5 kWh | ~39p |
| Washing machine, one cycle | ~1 kWh | ~26p |
| Kettle, one full boil | ~0.15 kWh | ~4p |
| LED bulb, 5 hours | ~0.05 kWh | ~1p |
Indicative figures: actual consumption varies by appliance model, settings, and usage. Costs calculated at the Ofgem capped electricity unit rate for 1 October to 31 December 2026 (26.32p/kWh, GB average, direct debit).
The practical moves: dry clothes on airers or lines where you can, wash at 30°C, only boil the water you need, and swap any remaining old bulbs for LEDs. If your home is all-electric, heating dominates instead, and tariff choice matters even more: time-of-use tariffs can price overnight electricity much cheaper, which is where EV and off-peak tariffs earn their keep.
How to reduce your gas bill
Gas is where the October rise landed, up around 8%, and for most homes gas means heating and hot water, so the heating levers above are the gas levers. Beyond those: bleed radiators so they heat properly, keep them clear of furniture and drying clothes, and set hot water to heat on a schedule rather than all day if you have a tank. A hot water tank jacket costs little and pays for itself quickly on an uninsulated tank.
The larger structural point: a well-insulated home with a modern efficient boiler can use a fraction of the gas an older leaky property needs for the same warmth. If your gas bills are far above the averages on our average energy bill guide, insulation is usually the reason.
Do smart meters actually save you money?
Not by themselves, and it is worth being straight about that. A smart meter does not use less energy. What it does is remove estimated billing, show you what you are actually spending in near real time, and send half-hourly readings that unlock tariff types a standard meter cannot access.
That last part is where the real money is. Time-of-use tariffs, off-peak rates, and EV tariffs all need a smart meter. If you can shift heavy usage, washing, drying, charging, into cheap hours, the meter is the key that opens that door. The in-home display also makes waste visible: what usually happens is that people spot one or two surprisingly expensive habits in the first month and change them.
Installation is free through your supplier, there is no obligation to have one, and accurate bills alone end the cycle of estimated overcharging and surprise catch-up bills. If your bills are estimated today, it is worth doing for that reason alone. Meanwhile if your account has drifted into large credit or debit, our in debit or in credit guide covers how to fix it.
What barely makes a difference
Phone chargers left plugged in, routers, and modern TVs on standby use very little electricity individually: modern electronics are strictly regulated on standby power. Switching them off is fine, but it is pennies, not pounds, and it is not where your effort should go. The same goes for most plug-in "energy saver" gadgets, which have no credible mechanism for cutting a domestic bill. If a change does not touch your tariff, your heating, your insulation, or a heat-producing appliance, expect a small effect.
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Questions people ask
The three changes that move a bill most are your tariff, your heating, and your insulation. Check the tariff first: if you are on a standard variable tariff you pay the capped rates, and some fixed deals can come in below the cap. Heating is the biggest slice of most bills, so thermostat settings, schedules, and boiler efficiency matter more than switching off gadgets. Insulation cuts how much heating you need in the first place.
Not by themselves. A smart meter does not reduce what you use, but it removes estimated billing, shows what you are actually spending, and unlocks tariffs that need half-hourly readings, such as off-peak and EV tariffs. The savings come from what it enables. Installation is free through your supplier.
Anything that heats or dries. Tumble dryers, ovens, electric showers, immersion heaters, and hot wash cycles are usually the biggest users. At the October 2026 capped rate of 26.32p per kWh, a tumble dryer cycle can cost around 60 to 70p and an hour of oven use around 50p, while LEDs, chargers and routers cost comparatively little.
Usually, yes, and it is one of the larger levers available. Heating is the biggest component of most UK bills, and one degree lower is commonly estimated to cut heating use by several percent over a winter. The exact saving depends on your home and how long the heating runs, so treat any single figure as an estimate.
It is worth checking, especially on a standard variable tariff. The cap rose 4% on 1 October 2026 to £1,723 for a typical household, and some fixed deals can come in below the capped rates. Comparing takes around five minutes, does not affect your credit score, and your supply is never interrupted.
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