You are here:

Reducing the fuel burden

Created:
18 June 2008
Written by:
Moira O'Neill

It's easy when you're a smug Londoner, living in a flat that soaks up the heat from the one below and don't own a car (public transport suits my needs) to ignore the plight of many people around the country who are struggling with rising fuel costs. It's not possible for me, though, as my parents have the double burdens of heating a large heat-leaking house in the wilds of rural Lancashire, and running two very well-used cars, and are subjecting me to weekly telephone rants about their combined fuel bills.

Advertising

Oil prices have now been rising for four years. In the year to May, retail fuel prices increased by 20 per cent and UK household electricity and gas bills by 10 per cent. It's not a pretty picture. Motorists on average now pay £65 to fill their tank and industry analysts are predicting that the average annual energy bill for UK households is set to top £1,500 by the end of next year.

Other than ditching a car and moving to a smaller property, I have a few suggestions. First, streamline household bills using online services such as www.uSwitch.com, which helps consumers compare prices on gas, electricity, water, heating cover, and claims households could save an average of £1,500 on bills and financial services through a simple makeover.

Second, as they own their own plot of land in an extremely windy spot - on bad days the carpets in the living room rise up a metre, why not start generating their own electricity? Our feature, Home is where the heat is, shows you where to start, whether its wind turbines, underground heating systems or solar panels. I'd certainly be putting solar panels on our rooftop if it weren't for the difficulties getting agreement from my disagreeable freeholder.

With grants available, and energy prices set to remain high, the break-even point to recoup the costs is often earlier than you think - and you have the added potential joy of selling electricity back to the grid.

In the investment sphere, a good play on rising fuel prices is to invest in green energies, which are likely to be a long-term strategic aim for western governments for some time. The main risk is political, in terms of a change in environmental policy. But with Honda just announcing hydrogen fuel cell car production, the movement is gathering pace. Green energies are an infrastructure investment - so, for some ideas on how to get exposure to them, see Clean power fuel portfolio. Also, see our recent Masterclass on green investing.

  • Back to top

Win £1,000 or a golf weekend

Enter IC's Fantasy Portfolio competition for the chance of winning £1,000 or a luxury golf weekend, courtesy of ETX Capital and Celtic Manor.

Enter here for your chance to win

Advertorial Feature

Take control of your investing with CFDs

Have you ever watched a move in the markets that you saw coming, but you weren't able to exploit?

by Dominic Picarda

Advertorial Feature

Spread your risks with spread trading

With so many big moves in the world's financial markets, there have seldom been more opportunities around for spread traders. Isn't it time you joined them?

by Dominic Picarda