my name's beth i'm from a charity called national energy action i'm going to give you a an overview of energy saving within the home and help that is available to to do so there's a lot of information to take on but just so that you know there'll be time for questions at the end and my final slide has got the all-important phone number on it so if you need if you need to remember one thing it's on the final slide and it's the telephone number where you can get all of the information that i'm going to to talk um to you about today and so if we can go on to the next slide ellie as as um as early said i'm from national energy action we are a national fuel poverty charity we're in we're currently in our 40th year and we're working to ensure that everybody can live in a home that is warm and comfortable and affordable to heat and we want to make sure that everybody can benefit from keeping warm and healthy without getting into debt or being worried or anxious about high fuel bills and paying for gas and electricity and and the oil to keep to keep our homes warm we have lots of different activities we're involved within trying to influence government policy and campaigning we have a research team who look into lots of lots of studies and also assess all of our practical projects we have a training team who train lots of frontline workers and volunteers so that we can continue to cascade the information and try and reach as many people as possible and we also have a range of practical projects the one that i will tell you about at the end is our warm and safe homes advice service where you can get all of the information that i'm going to tell you and to tell you today we also work on um the smart uh i particularly work on the smart meter program which is why um christina who you've met before has invited and invited us along along today so christina will be ready to answer any of your smart meter specific questions um as well so if we're going to look first at general kind of no-cost and low-cost energy savers things that we can do in our home to try and reduce our fuel and our fuel bills and keep warm so number one at the top there is get energy advice um the telephone number that i'll give you at the end is our is our telephone number to our nation um to our national advice service and the reason why i say that is we are a free and impartial service and we can give you information on all of the things that i'm going to be going to cover today by getting energy advice you can see how you can reduce the um reduce your energy usage within your home and also achieve some of these other no cost low cost things that you can do as well there's lots of free or low cost insulation and heating schemes that might be available and it's really really important the best way to stay warm is to keep the heat that you are already producing in your home to keep it within your home and not let it escape so by getting insulation or heating systems for free that will really improve the um the warmth within within your home if you control your heating by using your programmer or your thermostat to try and keep the heating between 80 18 and 21 degrees you won't be losing um using any excess excess heat and a top tip we always find people have got very high fuel bills because they might still have their immersion heater on all the time your immersion heater depending on the size of the tank you may only need to have it on for a couple of hours a day it's a big myth that people need to leave it on 24 hours a day but if you're paying if you have that switch on all the time you're paying electricity to heat your water up for that for that amount of time when actually if it's in an insulated tank you might just need it on for a couple of hours um so by making sure you've turned that off and controlling your heating as best you can you can try and save some energy on your fuel bills if you switch off the lights that you don't need you can save 14 pounds um 14 pounds a year and turning off your standby can save you around 30 pounds a year just by remembering to turn off these appliances and not leaving them on standby mode these tips are all about adjusting our behavior and even though the energy savings themselves might be quite small when they're put together they do really they do really add up into significant savings if you've got any appliances that have got economy settings on for example on your washing machine or your dishwasher consider using these because they they are specifically designed to reduce your energy use and your and your bills and make sure that you defrost your freezers it's a tricky job but worthwhile doing because then they will run more efficiently and very simple tips things that you probably all do already particularly as it's got colder closed curtains as soon as it's dusk and tuck them in if you've got a radiator by the window tuck them in behind them using the room sorry i can't see anyone's faces so if there are any questions then please do do say apologies for that i'm just continuing screen sharing beth over to okay no that's fine but i can't i can't see faces so if there are any questions then please do ask brilliant um don't if you've got any um radiators make sure that they're not blocked in or covered and that will allow all the heat to come into the room as well um one of my favorite ones instead of instead of using the oven you can consider using a microwave or um one of my favorite things to do is the slope is a slow cooker very very low cost in cooking and also extremely convenient with um you know to fit into your lifestyle as well to make sure that you can put it on first thing in the morning and then there's a warm a nice warm meal there um in the evening again another very simple tip is to only use um only boil the water in the kettle for the the drinks that you need to make by doing this this can save you another six pounds um another six pounds a year so adds adds to the other savings um and another no cost tip is to contact your fuel supplier and request a smart meter and in-home display because by having a smart meter installed at no extra cost to yourself you can have the information on the in-home display it can help identify potential wastage of electricity and your energy use and we'll come onto smart meters in a bit more detail in a bit i can have the next lot of low-cost savers up please um really useful again is making sure that even if you're um not able to get insulation for free then it could be quite low cost and there might be discounts available to you um in your area depending on your local authority or personal circumstances um but just by making sure that your loft insulation is um fully installed to the correct depth that can save you about 165 pounds a year on your fuel bills depending on your usage and your and your housing house size um if you look at getting your hot water cylinder jacket put on that can save you another 20 pounds and that can you can usually purchase them as well as the reflective foil panels for behind radiators from diy stores if you look at getting thermostatic radiator valves which is their tv and trvs they're on on the list if you look at getting them installed it's a brilliant way they only cost about approximately 15 pounds um each and through a handyman service you could get them installed it means that you can control the heat around your home and perhaps in rooms that you're not using as much reduce the heat but keep a low heat so that you don't have any damp and condensation um damping condensation problems so just some some ways of looking and seeing if we can do anything for free or low cost without spending out and small savings that will that will add up if we can move on to the next slide please ellie um so looking at um at smart meters as one of the no cost actions that you can that you can take smart meters are the new generation of meters and the smart meter rollout is happening across great britain between now and 2024 everyone is being offered one by their supplier and suppliers are rolling out smart meters to customers at different times um at no extra cost to customers that would like one although when you might receive it can depend on if they're um if it's available for the type of home that you're living in and the age of your and the age of your existing meter the benefits of smart meters are that they show you how much energy you're using in pounds and pence which um is a lot a lot simpler than looking at the old traditional meters with kilowatt-hour measurements on and um a smart meter can help you identify situations where you might be using a lot of energy and you might want to make changes to this um if you use the information on your in-home display to reduce your energy use you could cut costs and become more energy efficient across across the home and as a charity we've always been supportive of the roll out because we think it will provide real benefits to customers in being able to understand their energy use if people can make small reductions in some areas that means they can save some some money and be able to perhaps put that towards the extra heating costs that they that they might need we know that it needs the the rollout needs to be coupled with proper education and support to help people understand smart meters and make sure that they can they can benefit from them so please at the end when we've got time for questions please do ask if you have any queries so we're going to move on to the next slide and look at some of the benefits and that and that we can see from from smart meters in the in-home display um a huge benefit is making sure and that you will get accurate bills instead of estimated bills a lot of people who perhaps only get uh get billed every few months might not notice that they have been paying for estimated bills there's just a small e next to their um next to their reading um and this estimated billing has meant that for years somebody could have been um paying an inaccurate bill so by making sure that you're paying for what you're actually using it means that you can stay in better control of your energy use and your and your money you can see how much gas and electricity you're using in pounds and pence which is much easier to understand and it'll help you identify if any um fuel is being wasted around the home a brilliant benefit is that you don't need to let strangers into a home to read your meter at all excuse me and also it means that you don't have to crawl into understand cupboards to try and read your meter or stand up on ladders to try and reach a meter that might be right near the top of a ceiling that could be difficult to access um it'll also mean good opportunities for flexible tariffs um in the future and also if you do have any meat issues it'll mean quicker diagnosis by the energy companies which will be a real benefit to people so if we can move on to the next slide um we've identified that you know there are particular benefits particularly to people who have pre-payment meters and we um as a charity have really seen this in action over um throughout the pandemic smart meters they can operate in both prepayment and credit mode and smart meter prepayment meters means that people can see how much credit they've got left on their in-home display without having to go to the meter the real benefit is we've seen people can top up more easily perhaps by phone or online as well as still using the traditional method of going to the local shop um but it means that people don't any longer need to um top up on their their card or their or their key um but they can do it remotely um it'll be it'll mean that people can access more competitive prepayment tariffs and they can also switch between pre between payment modes for example if people are on credit mode they can between that and prepay without needing for an installer to visit the home so a lot more flexibility in managing your in managing your fuel bills um and as i said this has really been seen as a such a positive by us through the pandemic where people couldn't um and felt very vulnerable if they had a health condition in leaving their homes it was fantastic that they um if either them themselves or through friend or family could download an app onto their phone and um and up um pay for pay for their meter to be credited and through that rather than risking um going to their going to the hill and going to the shop if they're in ill health and so that's a huge huge benefit and if we could just go on to the next slide i just wanted to look at the in-home display the the picture that you can see on the slide is the in-home display which um often gets mistaken um as the as named as the smart meter and but the the smart meter is replaces the old traditional meter in in the same place and is the in-home display that you can have that is that you are given that is paired with the smart meter that gives you some um some information that you can keep in your home the information includes the the energy used in the last hour um week a month and it's cost it'll tell you if the electricity use is low medium or high and it updates in near real time for electricity or every half an hour um in for for gas we can move on to the next slide there's some there's some slight differences with the in-home display for pre-payment customers um they have the same information as the standard smart meter but they also must show how much credit people have left so that is of huge benefit to be able to see that within the home and know how much emergency credit is is available as well if people have got a debt then it will show you the the balance and there's also an alert if if the credit is low in addition to this there's been an accessible in-home display developed that is available for people and intended for use with anyone with dexterity issues if they have a visual impairment um perception issues or memory impairment as well it has got audio and visual features so it's intended to be easier to use for people and can be requested from um from your fuel supplier if people if people would need one um the in-home display just to just mention the the in-home display is provided as a tool to help people understand their their energy use it is not intended to cause cause any um concern at all and i think helping people understand that um for example if you put the kettle on to boil the needle on the in-home display it might shoot up to the red temporarily because while the kettle is boiling you're using a lot of um a lot of electricity but as soon as that's done it will go back down and it will go back down again um to the norm um to normal so it's it's not to be concerned or worried it's there to inform and inform people and um and and understands their their energy use so if we can move on to the next and the next slide there's something called the warm home um discount scheme and this is offered by fuel suppliers in the form of a discount of 140 pounds that is credited to people's electricity accounts and energy suppliers are required to provide this financial support and to fuel poor or um vulnerable low-income households and if you could just bring up the next part of the slide please and the next part is okay thank you um for the the core group this payment will be made automatically for anybody who's in receipt of um of pension credit um the fuel supply if you're if you are with your fuel supplier on a qualifying date and your name is on there or partners is on your bill and then you would be automatically credited with 140 pounds you should receive a letter between october and december explaining how to get the discount and customers will be told if they need to call a helpline to confirm any details um but um if you're worried about it at all whether or not you would qualify then the telephone number i give you at the end then we can help you with that if we move on to the next slide there's also a border group within the warm home discount scheme and this is managed by the suppliers themselves um so it's the same um support that's available 140 pounds to be credited to electricity accounts but each supplier has has potentially discount um each supplier has different um qualifying qualifying criteria but it is usually people that would be um on a low income who are in receipt of certain means tested benefits um and the important thing to do if we can get up the second part of the slide please ellis [Music] thank you um if the important thing to do is contact and contact your and if you believe that you might qualify is contact your supplier as early um as early as possible because the number of discounts that suppliers can give are limited so i mean don't don't worry if if you may have um missed this this year um it will be renewed um next year but you do need to cont if you're in the border group you do need to contact your supplier and every every year and it should be credited to people's accounts by the end of march so as we go on to the next um slide the the winter fuel payments this um is for people who are born on or before the 26th of september 1955 and people get between 100 and 300 pounds how much a person receives does depend on age and circumstances and most people receive the winter fuel payment automatically if they um get a state pension or another social security and security benefit most payments are made automatically for this usually between november and um and december so just something to to be aware of and look out for if we can move on to the next slide this is the cold weather payment which um does happen less less frequently um but is something something to be aware of if where you live has an average temperature in the local area below um zero degrees celsius or below for seven consecutive days during the colder months of the year november and and march um and you're in receipt of pension credits income support or job seekers allowance um employment and support allowance universal credit or support for mortgage interest you would automatically um so so you have to have the temperature being low for over seven days and being received the those benefits then you would automatically get a payment of 25 pounds for each seven day period of very cold weather um so i'm not sure not sure where you where you'll live but um over the years of giving energy advice i've come across a few people that have got have got this um and it tends to be when it is incredibly incredibly cold and incredibly cold weather and that's something to be aware of just just in case um if we can move on to the next slide we um this is some some funding that is available um [Music] throughout um through the local authorities um some local authorities have got welfare assistant funds but also this year um there is a specific as well as last year there were specific support funds that were very well publicized as a result of the pandemic um a number of for the local assistance awareness scheme a local of a number of local authorities um have this um and they offer financial assistance to people that might be um in need it's either as a grant alone or assistance in kind and they may include direct help for gas and electricity costs um or things like food food parcels the way to access this is to contact your local authority directly that's the same for the household support fund 500 million has been made available to support households um this this winter and this is to help households with the cost of food heating water and other essentials so it's available from it was available from october um and local authorities have set their own criteria so do contact the local council for more for more details let's go to the next slide um i spoke at the beginning about how the best way to reduce your energy costs and be more energy efficient is to to make the home more energy efficient and keep the um heat within within your home um the energy company co obligation is um funding that um households can get insulation first time central heating heating controls um new electric storage heaters which will be more efficient and non-gas boilers and renewable renewable heat as well um you can apply directly to your energy supplier and for these and depending on your circumstances the um the measures may be free or heavily discounted but it's it's important to make sure that the insulation in in your home is is fully up to date so that you can um so that that will help reduce the amount of heat that you will need to have on um if you reduce your bills and and fill um and feel warmer insulation really is the the quickest and most efficie effective way to to do that um as well as first time central heating being offered as well um so again that's that's to contact your your energy supplier to um to to get help for that we can move on to the next slide um if people are worried about their fuel bills and and falling into debt there are some steps that you can take to avoid this as i said make sure that you improve the energy efficiency of your home check that you are claiming all of the benefits that you're entitled to by making sure that you've had a recent benefit entitlement check if you are unable to pay your bill contact your supplier and let them know they may also have some debt debt relief funding and be able to put you on a different payment plan if you make sure that you provide your supplier with a monthly meter reading to ensure that you receive an accurate bill or request a smart meter which will send your meter readings automatically by making sure that your fuel supplier has got it has got up-to-date information about your energy use then you will be billed you will be billed accurately um i've included the telephone number on there for the citizens advice debt helpline they're one of the organizations who can give you free advice for all types of debt and money guidance and there's a link there to other sources of support and advice if you're worried about bills and falling into debt and that smart energy gpa has has put together so if we move on to the next slide um the priority service register is sometimes one of the best kept secrets um within the energy industry and it's very incredibly useful to the people who who use it all energy suppliers and distribution network companies provide this non-financial support for customers who need it it's available for people who are of pensionable age or those with a disability or long-term illness um people who may be blind or visually impaired of a deaf and hard and hearing impairment um any energy customers in a vulnerable situation may benefit um from the priority service register it doesn't need to be a permanent vulnerable situation for example if somebody has returned from hospital then they can be on the priority service register while they recuperate so it's just just something to be aware of if we could just bring up the next part of the slide thank you the services that are offered then by the by the fuel supplier can be relocation of meters they can also provide your bills in different formats including talking bills um and large print and braille they can give you use of a password if you were to have anybody from your fuel supplier and cool around and also they may provide special controls adapters and provide an annual gas safety gas safety check the real benefit of being on the priority service register is if there is going to be an emergency and a fuel shortage such as we've seen with the recent storms or or if there is planned work then if they have got your telephone number and your contact details the fuel supplier will get in touch um or district distribution network will get in touch with you first to let you know um for if if they know that you need particular um equipment that relies on electricity then they will provide you with a um [Music] a generator to make sure that that's um that that you continue to be um to have your your health equipment um working correctly and if there's any planned works they will get in touch with you to let you know um earlier about that and contact your fuel supplier to find out more about the priority service register and sign up to sign up for that um and on to my final final slide and if all of that was a lot to take in there is financial help available there is help for home energy efficiency measures as well but this is the one telephone number where you can get all of that advice um it's the the warm and safe homes advice service run by nea and we give free impartial advice to households in england and wales and we can give um advice on energy and also benefit entitlement checks as well we can help register people for priority service register we can apply for the hundred pounds warm home discount with your fuel supplier we can give energy efficiency advice make applications for grants and trust funds if needed to help with energy debt we can apply and we can apply for that for you um we also can negotiate tariffs and payments with energy and water suppliers and sometimes it's it's easier for us to to gather all your information in and have a look at understanding your fuel bills um before before giving them a call we give benefits um advice which includes entitlement checks and claims support and we can also make applications for emergency hardship funding um eligibility criteria does apply here and different funding is available at different times so we can't be specific about that but it's um as if there's something available an advisor will make you will make you aware of it there's a link there so that you can put a refer you can you can refer yourselves or or someone that you um [Music] that you are worried about that you um or you can phone the the 0800 number and come through to somebody to um to be able to help and i think that takes us on to our last slide i did see some questions pop up in the the chat but thank you very much for listening i know that was a lot of information to take on um there there is help available but if you come through to the the r800 number on the wash service then we will be able to help you with all the different elements of um trying to get your home well insulated and try and reduce your fuel bills but there are some low low cost no cost tips as well and actions that you can that you can do to try and reduce your reduce your bills as well you
