Skip to main content
Blog Post 23 September 2022 Updated 31 May 2024

Providing energy efficiency advice to your residents

Giving simple, easy-to-implement energy advice to your residents could help them save hundreds of pounds on their energy bills.

The Energy Price Guarantee that was put in place from 1 October 2022 was set to run until April 2023, but it’s now been extended for a further three months and runs until the end of June 2023. Under the guarantee, a typical household in England, Scotland and Wales will pay an average of around £2,500 a year for their energy.

The £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme (EBSS), which started in October 2022 and gave most households a discount on their energy bills, ended in March 2023. There’s further support for more vulnerable groups, and in February 2023 the government launched the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding for households without a direct relationship to an energy supplier who can apply for their £400 EBSS support.

Even with this support aimed at easing the cost-of-living crisis, energy bills are still much higher than they were last year. Residents need advice on the action they can take to save energy and money. You can help your residents by following our six top tips to get started.

1

Get the correct facts

If you’re offering energy saving advice, it’s important to make sure the savings and facts are up-to-date, accurate, easy to understand and in an accessible format that is suitable for your audience.

So that residents don’t become more anxious, it’s important to relay the message that if they’re struggling to pay their energy bills there’s help available.

Local authorities tell us it can be challenging and time consuming to support residents with energy efficiency when they’re not energy experts. Our consultants can make this easy for you with messaging, statistics and facts to support energy saving campaigns.

2

Plan an energy saving campaign

Make sure you understand your residents, their homes and what their energy needs are and plan a campaign that can help them save money.

It’s worth using resident geographic data and home Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) data to help narrow down households which might be more vulnerable to high energy bills or households suitable for specific energy efficiency interventions.

3

Use digital communications

Include energy savings tips in your existing newsletters, social media or website. You can get ideas from our Energywire newsletter or suggest your residents sign up to it too. You can also signpost to a whole range of information on our website in your newsletter and on social media. To get started, see our energy saving hacks that can help your residents

We also have a domestic home energy bulletin that offers easy-to-use facts and savings designed to support your advice. It has up-to-date and referenced energy and carbon savings that you can use in online communications.

You might also like to think about creating your own online energy advice hub with tips or online tools to help your residents live more sustainably. If you want to increase resident engagement and give them clear ways to save energy in each and every room of the house, you could give them access to our Energy Efficiency Advice Tool, putting the potential costs and savings right in front of them.

Calculators are also a useful tool. Martin Lewis has a great webtool to help residents understand their rising costs.

 

4

Don’t forget the digitally excluded

Make sure digital isn’t your only avenue when you’re talking to residents. Some audiences might be digitally excluded, so don’t overlook more traditional ways of communicating. For example, leaflets, free merchandise or community engagement events can still be very effective.

You can use housing stock data to understand which households could benefit from your support and send targeted support and information leaflets to those areas.

5

Consider energy advice training for staff

If you have trained support staff or advisors that to talk to your residents over the phone or online, you could train them to give energy advice to residents, enhancing the service they provide.

There are various energy training courses available, including our own energy advice training service that can provide frontline staff with an understanding of what bespoke energy efficiency advice and financial support signposting they need.

6

Know what information to cover

Quick and effective energy efficiency is key. You could give residents some tips on:

  1. Heating their home

Taking control of heating could save households lots of energy and money. Installing a room thermostat, a programmer and thermostatic radiator valves, and giving residents advice on how to use them effectively, is a good place to start.

  1. Reducing heat loss

Small fixes around the home can add up to significant savings on energy bills. If your residents want to keep energy bills low, installing or topping up insulation in the home, or draught-proofing, will help significantly.

  1. Using energy efficient products

Switching to energy efficient appliances can be a great way to save money on bills in the long term.

  1. Getting financial support

Many UK residents are worried about their rising energy costs and would like to do something about it, but they’re not sure where to start. Direct them to financial support that may be available to them based on their situation or household.

 

Although the UK Government has frozen typical energy bills at around £2,500 for the next two years, starting this October, and this is almost £1,000 less than typical bills would have risen to under the cap, the cost of energy is still higher than it’s ever been. In addition, the cost of living is at its highest level in a decade.

By making sure local residents are aware of the many ways they will be able to save energy at home over the coming years, you’ll be doing your part in supporting your community through these difficult times.

 

Contact us to boost your energy saving communications.

 

Latest blogs

Go to blog

New government’s energy pledges: five things your business should know

19 July 2024

We have a new UK Government, but what does its key energy pledges mean for your business?

Helping local councils tackle the climate emergency with UK100

22 January 2024

In our interview with UK100 CEO Christopher Hammond, we explore the challenges and opportunities for local authorities to meet their sustainability goals.

10 reasons why employee engagement can benefit your business

10 November 2023

There are many benefits of engaging employees with sustainability. From cutting carbon emissions and meeting regulations, to increasing productivity.

Last updated: 31 May 2024