UK Consumers Cutting Back on Winter Heating Due to High Energy Costs

Apparently UK consumers are going to face a very cold winter as they attempt to cut back on energy bills. More than six out of 10 households are worried about the cost of their energy bills this winter. 20 percent of consumers are already struggling to pay their energy bills, and it will just become that much harder once winter hits.

Research that was done by uSwitch.com has also revealed that almost three-quarters (73 percent), or 19 million households, have already cut back on their energy usage or interned to do so. This is all being done in a big attempt to cut energy bills and save some money this winter.

Just about half of the people polled, or 48 percent, have attempted to make their homes more energy efficient. A further 24 percent of people said that they are more likely to try and make their homes energy efficient because of how cold last year’s winter was.

Some 17 percent of households either went without heating last winter or did not have adequate heating for fear of their energy bills going too high to pay. uSwitch said that people could feel forced to ration their heating again this year if the winter turns out to be as severe as it was last year.

The director of consumer policy over at uSwitch.com, Ann Robinson, said that the high cost of energy, coupled with last year’s bitter winter has left a very lasting impression on people in the UK. In some ways, it has acted as a force of good. It has been encouraging people to make their homes more energy efficient in time for winter. However, it is not all positive news. Some people have been left with major concerns about how they are going to pay their power bill.