We can help you to reduce your energy bills for free

We offer free Home Energy Advice Sessions to help you reduce your energy bills:

When you book a free Home Energy Advice Session, our Home Energy Adviser will:

  • review your energy tariffs,
  • look at applying for grants and trust funds,
  • share tips to reduce your energy costs (while keeping things warm during the colder months),
  • provide advice on Winter Fuel Payments,
  • support you with energy disputes and making complaints to your energy provider,
  • and - where possible - provide even more tailored support based on your circumstances.

You can book a free Home Energy Advice Session by calling 07782 522498 or emailing: energy@startswithyou.org.uk.

Here are the questions we're most frequently asked questions about our Home Energy Advice sessions:

We're around Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Yes. We can look at ways to tackle arrears through things like energy repayment plans, applying for grants, trust fund applications, and more.

Get in touch and we'll see what we can do.

Yes, all appointments have to be pre-booked.

It'll only take a minute, though. Just contact us using the details on this page.

We can meet you for a home visit if you live in or around Bolton, as that's where we're based. Just let us know when you book.

Don't worry if you live somewhere else, though. We can still provide free support over the phone.

Energy advice: a case study

"My arrears were reduced to zero, thanks to Tom**!"

Our tenant Jean (name changed) thought Tom could help, so she got in touch.

Jean raised concerns over an unexpected £600+ bill she’d received (following a takeover of her previous energy supplier), so, Tom arranged a home visit to work things out.

After assisting with a three-way call, submitting up-to-date meter readings, and disputing the balance- it wasn’t long before he’d helped reduce Jean’s arrears to zero.

Jean not only reduced her arrears to zero, she was able to benefit from Tom's expert advice on how to save energy around the house.

**Tom is our Home Energy Adviser.

See how much it'll cost to run home appliances for a given amount of time

Figure out which of your home applicances are costing you the most to run (external website):

GoCompare have developed an interactive energy cost calculator tool that'll help you find out how much your various home applicances cost to run over a given period of time.

You can use the calculator (shown in the screenshot below) to pick the appliances you want to compare and select how long they’ll be in use for. The calculator makes it easier to understand which of your appliances are contributing most to your bill.

Tap here to use GoCompare's Energy cost calculator (opens in a new tab/window).

Screenshot of the GoCompare energy cost calculator (links to 'www.gocompare.com/gas-and-electricity/guide/energy-calculator' in a new tab)