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Octopus Energy has launched a new scheme to provide bespoke advice to households to help them save energy and cut their bills this winter.
The company has trained a team of ‘Energy Helpers’, who will make “street-by-street” visits to customers’ homes and offer personalised, practical tips on how to lower their consumption.
The supplier said there are several effective ways to save energy without compromising on comfort, including turning down water flow temperatures on gas boilers – a change that can save people up to 8% off their gas bills.
Octopus said most of this advice can be delivered at the doorstep, but the DBS-checked staff will be equipped thermal imaging cameras in the colder months, and if invited inside, will be able to identify hidden draughts in customers’ and suggest low-cost ways to close them.
It said the new service has been trialled over the summer and is now being rolled out country-wide. The company hopes to make personal visit to at least 500,000 homes over the course of this winter.
Octopus said the service also builds on its Winter Workout challenge, in which customers who signed up were offered the chance to win prizes for following 12 energy tips over a 12-week period last winter. It said the programme reduced customers’ gas consumption by an average of 12% and reduced their energy bills by almost £5 million.
It also gave 8,000 free electric blankets to vulnerable customers. Both schemes will run again this winter.
Rebecca Dibb-Simkin, chief product officer at Octopus Energy Group, says: “We speak to over 30,000 customers each day and know that many people are worried and struggling to pay their bills this winter.
“We’re doing all we possibly can to cushion the impact of the crisis on people. 100% of our profits have gone to keeping prices lower for our customers, and we’ve already absorbed £150 million of the cost increase on behalf of them. We also recently doubled our ‘Octo Assist’ fund in size to £15 million, which has already helped over 55,000 people.
“Our ‘Energy Helpers’ scheme adds a new layer to this support network and means we can provide even more personalised help to our customers this winter.”
Octopus said it will alert customers when staff are in their area, although they can also register their interest in advance online.
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