Cheapest time to run all your appliances and cut energy bills explained

ENERGY bills have jumped by hundreds of pounds – here’s how to lower your costs by running your appliances at the cheapest times.

Using your appliances at certain times of the day can cost less money if you’re on a special tariff.

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Here’s how to lower your energy bills by running appliances at cheapest times[/caption]

Some customers are on tariffs where energy costs less during the night compared to the day.

These are called “time of use tariffs”, or Economy 7 or 10 tariffs.

You’ll only make the savings if you keep to using your appliances during these strict timeframes.

It means that you have to commit to using most of your energy at night to get lower energy bills.

Exactly when you should run your appliances at night will vary depending on when your suppliers’ off peak hours are.

Each supplier chooses their own Economy 7 times.

For example, Bulb’s special tariff hours vary across the country – so you’ll need to check your contract for exact times – but off-peak hours are usually somewhere between 10pm and 8am.

EDF customers will see off-peak hours vary too – but they’ll fall somewhere between 11pm and 8am.

While British Gas customers should run appliances between 12am and 7am during the winter and 1am to 8am during the summer.

How much can I save?

The exact savings you can make will vary depending on the model of your appliances, and the settings you use on them.

Plus, you should be careful of running electrical appliances like these overnight when you’re asleep as it can be a fire risk.

But you can save up to hundreds of pounds.

Savvy saver Scott Dixon told The Sun that he saves £725 a year on his Economy 7 tariff.

How else can I lower my energy bills?

Draught-proofing is one of the most effective ways to save energy and money.

By blocking gaps that let cold air in and warm air out, you won’t need to pop the heating on as high, or as long, when the cold weather hits.

Leaving energy guzzling appliances on could be costing you more than £500 a year.

This includes games consoles, computers, extra fridge freezers and washing machines.

The best thing to do is turn these appliances off properly by switching them off at the plug when you’re not using them.

You should also use the energy saver mode settings – this will help lower your bills.

Your energy firm might run a hardship fund to help you cope with the impact of price rises.

For example, British Gas has a scheme offering customers up to £750 to put towards energy debts.

Octopus Energy gives out grants of up to £500 to struggling customers.

Ask your supplier what’s on offer and how to apply, or check here:

• British Gas Energy Trust
• Bulb energy fund
• EDF’s energy customer support fund
• E.on’s energy fund
• Npower’s energy fund
• Ovo’s debt and energy assistance
• Scottish Power’s hardship fund

You could also get in touch with your local council to see if they are still running the Household Support Fund, although many of those schemes have closed.

Charities and other organisations often offer grants and you might be able to spend that money on energy costs.

You can search for these kind of grants on the Turn2Us website.