When it comes to household utility bills, the main question on everyone’s mind is how to keep your home as cost effective as possible; everyone of course would like to be as environmentally friendly as possible, but top of most people’s priority list is making sure that not too much cash is being spent unnecessarily.

There are, however, ways of making sure that you’re getting the best deal financially at the same time as being green and energy efficient. British Gas* offer lots of advice on their website as to how to regulate your household gas and electricity supply and how to keep it in check, resulting in both a smaller carbon footprint and a less lengthy bill. Indeed, if you sign up to Pay As You Go Energy, you won’t have any kind of bill at all.

If you sign up to the Pay As You Go scheme, a meter will be fitted in your home which allows you to control the amount that you are spending on gas and electricity. It costs no more than the monthly bill paying system, but places you firmly in control of your gas and electricity supply, allowing you to manage finances more closely and to be more aware of just how much energy you are consuming. Irritations like the monthly paper bill, which are not only a pain to deal with but also a strain on the environment, can be dispensed with, giving the customer greater freedom and peace of mind.
Another one of British Gas’s methods for reducing your impact on the increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is signing up to Zero Carbon Gas and Electricity. You can be assured that all the gas and electricity used in the running of your home will be matched with renewable resources, such as wind or water power, and British Gas will also offset 100% of the negative carbon impact produced by the gas used in your property. Furthermore, a percentage from your bill will go towards investing in renewable energy for the future, targeting schools as well as major research projects.

There are other ways in which you can reduce the size of your bill, and consequently the damage done to the environment. You might well find that your central piping system is a bit bunged up, causing less efficiency in terms of the power of your boiler and radiators; cleaning this out could reduce your gas requirements, as you would need less energy to get your appliances to perform well. There’s also the issue of insulation, which could save you hundreds of pounds every year in saved energy bills.

* Britain’s leading gas and electricity suppliers.