Brits breathe easier as energy price cap drops: a call to smart heating solutions amid lingering uncertainty
23 February 2024, 07:58 | Updated: 23 February 2024, 08:00
- Christian Deilmann is the Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Smart Thermostat manufacturer and home energy management company tado°
There will undoubtedly be a collective sigh of relief in millions of British households this morning at the announcement that the energy price cap will fall by almost 12 per cent from April 1.
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That will mean the bill for a typical dual-fuel household paying by direct debit is at its lowest for more than two years - and there is further good news with a forecast for another reduction of 10 per cent from July.
People have been hammered by high energy prices since early 2022 but it is too early to declare ‘crisis over.
Remember, this new price cap of £1,690 is still almost a third more than what you were paying two winters ago and it is doubtful we will see gas and electric bills fall to anything like pre-pandemic levels anytime soon.
We remain vulnerable to political and economic events that could see bills rise again so that is why people should invest the ‘savings’ they make this year in products like Smart Thermostats to give themselves a level of protection against the inevitable wave of increases.
tado° customers save, on average, 22 per cent on their heating bills through our smart thermostats, smart radiator thermostats and home energy management software. We estimate that someone who bought a smart thermostat before prices began to rise in early 2022 would have already saved up to £470 by now and recouped their original outlay within a few months.
That is before they could add additional savings through changing their heating behaviour - lowering a home’s set temperature by a barely noticeable 1°C saves 6 per cent, which will be about £46.
Taking advantage of things like dynamic energy tariffs to shift your consumption to times of the day when energy prices are cheaper will also hopefully become more prevalent in the UK to further push down bills.
People are happy to make changes when offered alternatives that cut their shopping bills or the cost of travelling to work, so is it any different to invest in reducing high energy costs?
We should all welcome the respite of lower energy bills, but the certainty of future price rises means now is really the time to get smart about heating.
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