Martin Lewis says ditch 'demon appliance' worst in house for spiking bills

Personal finance expert Martin Lewis has spoken out about a ‘demon appliance’ which is the worst energy hog in the house - and should be avoided at all costs. Speaking on his BBC Radio 5 podcast previously Mr Lewis was giving advice amid soaring energy bills as the weather is getting colder.

This week it emerged that households are starting the winter owing £780 million to their energy suppliers, the highest debt levels in eight years, a survey for Uswitch found. Some 3.5 million households owe money to their provider, up 46% from 2.4 million last year, the comparison site said.

Mr Lewis said one key appliance to use as sparingly as possible is the tumble dryer, which costs £1 for every load. He said: Do you know what the read ‘demon appliance’ is in most people’s houses - the one that you don’t want to use because it’s really expensive. Tumble dryers. You’re typically paying up to a quid per load so dry your clothes on an airer outside, to shorten the amount of time you’re using your tumble dryer, or avoid using it completely. Those who have dehumidifiers can take some of the moisture out of the air. It’s less wattage than a tumble dryer, so it can be more cost-effective.”

Live listener Rob had been noticing that his apartment has become damp since trying to dry his washing inside his home.

He asked: “If I were to buy a dehumidifier, would it be cheaper than using the heating to keep the place dry?”

Martin answered: “Dehumidifiers take water out of the air rather than use the heating and they’re much lower wattage appliances than standard heating. So if the dehumidifier works for you, it will definitely have lower electricity bills.”

One of the issues is radiators heating areas which do nothing to raise the temperature and escape outside quickly. Speaking previously on his BBC Podcast, Mr Lewis has said that people should consider using reflective panels behind radiators - to send the heat backing into the room rather than through the wall to outside.

He said: “A tip for you reflective panels behind radiators. Sheets of reflective material can be placed behind radiators. Crucially, this is on external wall radiators, so the heat doesn’t escape. If you don’t want to pay for those, then tin foil can work, although it doesn’t work quite as well.”

Currently a 4 metre long roll of the radiator heat reflector foil can be bought at Screwfix for £6.38 on offer at 15 per cent off. He shared other tips as well for radiators. He said: “If you’ve got radiators in rooms that you’re not using, go and turn them off before you turn the heating on so you’re not wasting cash overheating empty spaces.

“Changing the flow rate on your boiler can cut gas bill by over 9% and you won’t notice the change.” And Mr Lewis added that people should avoid using a ‘demon appliance’ as often as possible.

He said: “Other general tips included: “Check your TV’s on a low energy setting too and walk around your house. Be a draft detector - what drafts can you spot as you walk around your house? And then try, if you can, to seal them up.”

According to the Uswitch survey the current average household debt figure of £223 is 29% higher than last year’s £173. Across all households, the average bill payer was £128 in credit last year but this has dropped to £98 this year – falling below £100 for the first time since the energy crisis began.

Households usually pay a fixed amount each month that tends to exceed their actual summer usage in order to build up credit to cover the more expensive winter months. However, more than two million low-income households – and 10 million UK homes overall – have no energy credit built up to cope with higher winter bills.

Of the 55% of households who do have a credit balance, this has dropped slightly from last autumn’s average of £222 to the current £214. Recent figures from regulator Ofgem showed that customers owed energy suppliers more than £4 billion, an increase of more than £750 million on the previous year.

Ofgem’s debt figure is the total amount that customers owe their suppliers for unpaid bills, whereas Uswitch is measuring the current balance of a household’s energy account. One in six homes (16%) with a household income of less than £20,000 a year already owe money to their energy supplier before winter, with indebted homes owing £60 on average.

Ben Gallizzi, energy spokesman at Uswitch, said: “It’s deeply concerning to see that household energy debt has soared to an eight-year high, which suggests that many homes may face a bill shock soon as direct debit levels are updated.

“The cost of living squeeze and the end of many government support schemes means that households are getting less help than they used to, causing many to fall behind.

“Households use more energy over the winter, so for those paying via direct debit it’s ideal to have a cushion of about two months’ worth of energy credit at this point in the year.

“If your energy account is going into debt, or you are behind on your bill payments, speak to your supplier as soon as possible.”