Biggest worry for UK households is uncontrollable energy bills, survey shows

UK households say that uncontrollable energy bills are the biggest worry according to a new survey.

The survey by YouGov is part of the launch of the Big Energy Vision campaign led by Forum for the Future and behaviour change NGOs. The campaign has the support of leading companies and charities, who are calling on other leaders to join in.

The poll of around 2,000 adults shows that 32% of people are most worried about energy bills. The second biggest concern was mortgage or rent (15%) while food bills were third at 11%.

Disturbingly, the survey found that 66% of respondents say “there’s not very much or nothing at all that they can do to reduce their household’s energy bills”.

Energy prices double

That’s what needs to change. We have been working over the past two years and more to give people the information and confidence they need to take control of ever-rising energy bills because we know that these costs will never come down again. Far from it, the forecasts are for them to double again in the next decade.

SaveMoneyCutCarbon.com wholeheartedly supports the Big Energy Vision campaign, which aims to empower UK households to take control of energy bills. We’re looking forward to helping in whatever ways we can and hope that our work already will add to the energy education mix.

Learn and save

Our Learn&Save section was designed specifically to help everyone, from households to businesses of all shapes and sizes, and all organisations to find best ways to cut energy use and reduce carbon footprint at the same time.

As the campaign group says: “There is a big missing link: energy efficiency. Using, wasting and paying less for energy can start today and are long-term solutions to controlling bills.”

That’s like our energy saving mantra (cut consumption, cut bills, cut carbon) and we’ve seen this message being absorbed, understood and acted on in the past year particularly. Clearly, there’s a way to go before people across Britain feel they are back in control of their utility bills but we’re going in the right direction.

We hope that the Big Energy Vision heavyweight campaign group, which  includes Kingfisher, John Lewis, Home Retail Group, National Trust, Citizens Advice, Calor, uSwitch, Energy Saving Trust, TrustMark, Energy UK, UK Green Building Council, Global Action Plan, Willmott Dixon, and Groundwork can convince the Government to act more decisively.

LED lights and water efficiency

A more comprehensive energy saving programme is sorely needed, despite recent uplift in the Green Deal and other initiatives. Our domestic focus is on saving energy through LED lighting and efficient water management. The latter is a neglected element and we underline the ‘hidden’ energy costs from pumping and heating.

We are passionate also about the wholesale adoption of LED lights. They cut electricity consumption by up to 85% and, according to Sir Colin Humphrey, director of research at Cambridge University, they are so efficient that if the UK switched over to LED lighting, the nation could save 10% of its electricity bill and do without eight new power stations.

The initial cost of the LED lamps is repaid through energy savings very quickly, then they go on delivering savings for a decade or more because they have an incredibly long lifespan.

On launch day for the campaign, Sir Ian Cheshire, group chief executive of Kingfisher said: “Now is the time to take control of rising home energy costs. We need to move from a place where people are frustrated about their bills and feel there’s nothing they can do, to one where they feel that help is available to stop wasting energy and control their bills. We’re committing to a bold vision, working collaboratively to make it easier for everyone to use less, waste less and pay less for their energy.”

That’s our vision too, one we passionately want to be adopted by the whole country as people find the confidence and methods to take control of energy costs through the many solutions that are tried and trusted.