Stay Informed With HeatingSave | Page 13

As experts doubt that pledges made at a United Nations summit in Copenhagen in December will actually deliver, it is no wonder people are concerned about the rise in greenhouse gases. On a domestic level, using new technology like a HeatingSave energy management system can cut down on central heating’s contribution to harmful emissions whilst saving money at the same time.

Voters are interested in how each party”s policies could affect the money in their pockets. Plenty has been pledged in the parties’ manifestos on pensions, property and children before the general election day on Thursday, May 6. Apart from a brief mention of winter fuel, little attention seems to have been paid to reducing fuel prices. HeatingSave tops the polls with a quick and money-saving solution.

A new government report says more than one in 10 new homes in Britain do not meet legal requirements for energy efficiency, so it’s no wonder tens of thousands of householders have higher energy bills. Record fuel prices are only adding to this tale of financial woe. The government has identified improving households” energy efficiency as the best way to reduce carbon emissions at the same time as keeping a lid on rising utility bills.

A committee of MPs has just warned that the government is on course to fail to meet its own targets on reducing fuel poverty. The official definition of fuel poverty is “spending more than 10 per cent of household income on energy bills”. As the period between last December and March brought the coldest winter for a generation and fuel bills continue to rise, the committee’s findings do not really come as a surprise.

An academic said a worldwide deal on climate change will be several years away. Since last December 130 countries have associated with the Copenhagen accord and over 80 have put in their emissions reductions commitments.

Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) have been angered by the news that the Boiler Scrappage Scheme brought forward by the Scottish National Party (SNP) Government has run dry two days after its launch.

The official energy price enforcer is warning consumers they face gas price increases of up to 30 per cent before winter. Ofgem issued the grave statement after it found out wholesale prices for gas next winter have already risen by almost a third. The increase could add more than £200 to the typical energy bill.

Saudi Arabia has opened emergency talks with European refinery groups after world oil prices surged to the $120 a barrel mark. The Saudis and their partners in the Opec oil producers cartel said any shortfall in oil supply caused by instability in Libya would be made up. An engineer with the Sirte oil company said a blockade by rebels had prevented 80,000 barrels a day being exported from the Dregga field alone.

There is never a better time to be conscious about energy efficiency now that oil prices are returning to record levels after a temporary blip during the past week. So here are a few energy-saving tips that consumers cannot ignore, oil and other fuel bills are at unprecedented highs. Making your oil-fired boiler more efficient through better controls is a starting point.

Consumer watchdog, Consumer Focus, said it was worried that fuel prices would rise further in the wake of British Gas seeing its profits rise 98 per cent in the first half of this year. Audrey Gallacher, head of energy policy at the organisation, said: “We are concerned that energy firms may actually raise prices this winter.

Aided by a £550,000 assembly government grant for the scheme, residents of maisonettes and flats in Wales were told that their homes would receive external wall insulation which could save them up to 40% on their heating bills. This is part of plans to spend up to £40m over the next five years on home improvements. The blocks in Penparcau are part of a project to make them more energy efficient.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said more than 20 per cent of all households in the UK were affected by fuel poverty in 2009 due to higher fuel bills. A household is defined as being in fuel poverty when it has to spend more than 10% of its income keeping warm. DECC predicts that the numbers for 2010 and this year will have increased because of further rises in the price of energy.