Martin Lewis Urges Action on Rising Energy Bills
Money saving expert Martin Lewis has issued urgent advice to UK households on his ITV show, focusing on how to reduce soaring energy costs as bills are set to increase again in January. The financial journalist dedicated a significant portion of his programme to discussing the expensive but essential use of tumble dryers, particularly during the colder winter months.
The 'Pants Cap' Price Cap and Cheaper Alternatives
Martin Lewis strongly advised viewers to move away from what he labelled the 'pants cap' price cap and instead secure a fixed energy deal. He explained that a significant opportunity for savings lies with specialised Electric Vehicle (EV) charging tariffs, which can also be utilised for other household electricity consumption, not just car charging.
These tariffs function similarly to traditional Economy 7 deals by offering a substantially cheaper rate for electricity used during the night. 'You pay the price cap for electricity during the day, and then you get a super cheap rate, say 9p per kWh at night,' Martin clarified, referring to offers from providers like Octopus.
A Crucial Safety Warning for Households
While encouraging people to shift their energy use to the cheaper overnight period, Martin Lewis delivered a vital safety warning. He explicitly stated that households should not run their tumble dryers overnight while they are asleep, emphasising the significant fire risk this poses.
His guidance is to shift as much other electricity consumption as possible to the super-cheap window, which typically runs from midnight until 5am. The key, he said, is to calculate what percentage of your total usage occurs in this period.
'If that’s over 25% of your usage that’s in the very cheap period, you’re probably better on an EV tariff,' he advised, adding this is a 'very rough rule of thumb' to help people decide if such a tariff is financially beneficial for them. If their overnight usage is lower, they are likely better off simply finding the cheapest fixed deal available.
