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Guide to lower gas bills

This guide on how to lower gas bills outlines what you need to do to reduce gas and lower gas payments.

A few simple changes can lower your gas bills by £££'s a year.

Lower my gas bill - compare gas prices

Comparing gas suppliers takes just a minute or two and is the easiest way to get lower gas bills.

If you've never switched, you could save hundreds of pounds a year. Even if you have, you could still slice another 10% or so off your bill, with all the recent changes to gas prices.

When you compare gas prices, remember you'll often get lower bills if you agree to pay by direct debit, receive online bills and take both gas and electricity from the same supplier.

Lower my gas bills – quick, practical tips

Five minutes of checks round your house could lower your annual gas bill by more than £50 a year:

Check the meter: if your last gas meter reading was an estimate, make sure it was accurate. If not, tell your supplier the correct one – you could be paying for gas you've not used.
Set the timer correctly: if everyone leaves the house by 8am, you need the boiler on until only 7 or 7.30, not until 8.
Close curtains when it's dark: this stops heat escaping through windows.
Adjust the thermostat: turning it down 1 degree saves £40 of gas a year.
Bleed radiators: make sure they operate at maximum efficiency.
Fix dripping taps: especially ones connected to a hot water tank.
Adjust curtains and sofas: don't let them block radiators, which need an air flow to work properly.

Lower my gas bill - insulate house

The better insulated your house, the warmer it will stay and the lower your gas bills will be. Many forms of insulation pay for themselves within 5 years – or even a year in some cases.

Type of insulation	Estimated cost to install	Estimated saving over 5 years
Loft insulation	£250 ⁽¹⁾	£550 ⁽²⁾
Cavity wall insulation	£500	£450
External wall insulation	£1,900	£1,500
Hot water cylinder	£12	£100
Hot water pipes in loft	£10	£50
Draught proofing	£90 ⁽¹⁾	£50
Double/secondary glazing	Depends on property	£450

⁽¹⁾ DIY cost. Double if installed by someone else.
⁽²⁾ Assumes you go from none to 270mm insulation. Savings will be smaller if you already have some insulation.

Source: Energy Saving Trust

Government energy efficiency grants

The government gives grants of up to £2,700 a year to households (even if you rent) on common benefits to make their homes more energy efficient.

So you might be able to get help with loft insulation, draught-proofing windows or a new boiler. Find out more at the Energy Saving Trust.

Reduce my gas - fit a new energy efficient boiler

New condensing boilers are about 90% efficient, compared with around 60% for older gas boilers.

This is a measure of how much fuel they turn into useful heat – but it means that, for every £100 you spent on an old boiler to heat water and your house, you'll spend just £66 with a new boiler.

You might see a SEDBUK rating on your boiler – this is the measure of how efficient it is, like the one on electrical appliances. New boilers have to be A or B rated (apart from a few exceptions).

Your lower gas bills

A new boiler costs upwards of £700. But if you live in a flat, you might save about £100 a year in gas bills compared with an older, inefficient one. In a terraced house, you'll save around £200 and a detached house, around, £300.

If you don't have proper heating controls, you can lower your bills by another £100 or so a year by installing a room thermostat, thermostatic radiator valves (to control the temperature in each room), and a boiler timer.

Lower my gas bill brought to you by LowerMyBills from Experian

The LowerMyBills guide to lower gas bills was created to help you understand how to lower electricity bills - compare gas prices, gas-saving tips, lower gas bills, home insulation, and energy-efficient boilers- giving you the information you need to reduce gas and lower gas payments.