There has been plenty of research in the past indicating that the energy consumption patterns in the UK are rising.

What with the Tories going so far as to say that they will strike a green deal in order to reduce the amounts of bills every household receives.

According to reports by a group called Energy Watch, the consumption of gas and electricity in the year 2003 stood a lot lower than in 2007. The gas bills for UK households stood at an average of £330 and the electricity bills stood at £242.

There have been indications by Energy Watch that the figures for energy consumption at the end of the year 2007 have increased. The figures rose to £573 for gas bills and £375 for electricity bills.

Keeping figures like these in mind, people have begun to monitor the amount of gas and electricity they consume.

The austerity and sustainability bug seems to be a global phenomenon. One cannot discount the good it is doing and there is plenty of evidence indicating a greener landscape that the government is adapting to.

The government and a number of businesses across the UK seem to be placing sustainability on top of their agendas.

How are your electricity and gas bills determined today?

Electricity and gas bills are determined in the UK today on the basis of the meters that households use. A meter will rest in your house and measure the amount of electricity that is being used by your house. At the intervals of a year or six months, there will be someone coming to your house to measure the amount of units consumed by you. They then go on to translate this charge to a simple figure: the amount payable by you.

The problem with this method

The problem with this method is that you are usually underpaying or overpaying the amount as it is an estimate that you are paying. This means that you are paying the average price for total consumption in your house. For instance, if you use electricity at the night, then you are paying by the same rate as someone else does during day time. The reason this is not justified is that the cost for generating power during the day is a lot more than that at night.

The solution to such a problem

There are plenty of solutions that you can use in order to cut down on your utility bills in a big way. There are OLED’s you can use for televisions which allegedly consume 40 percent less power. Energy saving lights for your household can drastically reduce your bills. Copper bottomed vessels to save on your household gas consumption.

As for paying the right amount for the electricity and gas in your household, you can make use of smart meters. Smart meters collect consumption data on a regular basis. Not just this, you can save a significant amount of money you spend on electricity bills by shifting consumption patterns and timings.