Be prepared for rising gas and electricity prices

Jan. 16, 2012 - PRLog -- Commodity prices are rising across the globe - from food to raw materials.

And gas is no exception. The rising price of gas, which has almost doubled in the last year, has triggered the recent increase in domestic UK energy prices.

And there is always a high degree of uncertainty in predicting which direction wholesale gas prices are heading.

Just a one per cent change in worldwide demand would completely shift the entire market from oversupply to shortage.

But there is no uncertainty about all the other costs involved, which collectively are around half the average household energy bill in the UK.

Non-commodity charges rose by about nine per cent last year and are certain to increase well into the future owing to government policies to ensure the UK has a stable energy market in years to come.

Costs include the charges for transmission of both gas and electricity, installing smart meters in every home, large investments in low-carbon power generation, and big energy efficiency programmes.

Therefore, domestically, solar energy is one of the Government’s top priorities. Another is to prompt homeowners to consider replacing their central heating boilers with more energy efficient ones. That, they reason, would be a start.

The Government says that the country must invest at least £200bn by 2020 in order to decarbonise its power industry, ensuring there is enough energy to keep us going.

Luckily, however, Britain has the rare opportunity of being able to alter the energy efficiency of its old housing, ensuring that higher prices may not result in ever increasing energy bills.

Britain is fortunate to have its own supply of gas from the North Sea to meet some of its needs and a number of import options through various pipelines across parts of the world.

It is important to understand, however, that to protect against the rise in prices and the depletion of resources you will need to run an energy efficient household. If you want to use gas central heating boilers in your home, you need ensure they are energy efficient.

And if you want to be even more proactive, you might even consider solar energy for your electricity supply.

The benefits of these upgrades are threefold, the most long-term of which is that it ensures a lasting energy supply for future generations.

A more immediate and personal benefit for homeowners is the dramatic savings in household energy bills and further protection against increases.

In addition, it is important to note that, at some point, the Government may force you to do these things anyway. The time might as well be now.

With solar energy you even get paid by the Government for the electricity you produce and don’t use.

Solar energy panels generate electricity using energy from the sun. Because the panels produce energy from daylight and not direct sunshine - they still produce energy even on cloudy days.

The electricity produced is either consumed directly by appliances in the home, or if more power than required is generated it is exported to the grid.

For more information on solar energy, gas central heating boilers, visit http://www.blazes.co.uk.