State pensioners handed £660 for unplugging item after Winter Fuel Payment axe | Personal Finance | Finance
Pensioners struggling to make ends meet after losing their £300 Winter Fuel Payment this year are being told they can unplug one item to save as much as £330 a year.
As Ofgem increases its energy prices by 10 percent in October, and millions of pensioners will lose their Winter Fuel Payment and another £300 cost of living payment which was paid out last year, those over retirement age will be looking for any way to cut their bills down.
Research by energy supplier Utilita has found that towel rails are one of the most expensive items to run in your house, with £330.25 added to the average energy bill per year.
They cost 90p per use if run for 12 hours a day, Utilita says, also using 297 KG of CO2 emissions per year as well, hurting the environment as well as your wallet.
And if you leave them on all day and night, every day, they can add an eyewatering £660 to your annual energy bill.
There are two main types of heated towel rail: a plumbing based one which is connected into your gas boiler powered heating, and an electric one which can be added to any bathroom whether or not you use gas central heating for everything else.
A heated towel rail will dry your towel and keep it warm, but it’s far more expensive and less efficient than popping one on a radiator when the heating is on, or using a heated clothes airer instead.
Indeed, much of the time you have a heated towel rail switched on, it probably has nothing on it or a towel that’s already dry, so the money is simply going to waste.
A gas boiler powered one is cheaper to run than electric, but simply switching them off will be cheapest of all.
Other high energy items listed by Utilita include electric radiators and electric fans as well as tumble dryers and ovens.
From this winter, state pensioners will no longer automatically get the £300 Winter Fuel Payment and instead will have to be claiming Pension Credit, or another similar benefit like Income based support, to qualify for the money.
State pensioners have until December to make a claim for Pension Credit and backdate it in order to claim the £300 payment this year.
