1 August 2011 Last updated at 01:03

Renewable heating systems: Household grants available
Households looking to install renewable heating systems are now eligible for
up to £1,250 from the government.

People who opt for greener methods such as biomass boilers and solar panels can apply to the £15m Premium Payment fund set up to support 25,000 installations.
It is mainly aimed at the 4m homes in Britain not heated by mains gas that rely on higher carbon heating methods. But Friends of the Earth said "disappointing" caveats short-changed a potentially ground-changing scheme.

The scheme to help pay for the installation costs of systems such as air and ground source heat pumps is open for applications from 1 August until March 2012. Run by the Energy Saving Trust, it will focus mainly on those heating their homes with high carbon and typically more expensive methods such as electric fires and heating oil.

A similar scheme for Northern Ireland is among the proposals in a current
consultation by the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Investment.

Scottish Power has announced a price hike of 19% for gas and 10% for electricity with effect from 1 August. The hikes include all variable tariffs including those on its social tariff and pre-payment meters, but not those on fixed or capped tariffs.

Previous to this, Scottish Power hiked prices by 2% on gas and 8.9% on electricity in Nov '10. The hike included all tariffs, except its fixed/capped products and its over 60s social tariff, Fresh Start.
British Gas & Scottish Gas. 18% gas & 16% elec rise (18 Aug '11)

British Gas will hike gas prices 18% and electricity prices 16% from 18 August 2011. It affects all customers barring those on fixed tariffs but including those on pre-payment meters and its social tariff, Essentials.

Before that British Gas hiked both gas and electricity prices by 7% on average from 10 Dec '10. 300,000 customers on BG's Essentials tariff weren't affected.
Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE). 18% gas & 11% electricity rise (14 Sep'11)

SSE will hike gas prices 18% and electricity prices 11% from 14 September. It affects all customers barring those on fixed deals. It's also stated it won't increase prices again until at least 1 August 2012.

Before this SSE's implemented a gas-only price rise of 9.4% for 1 Dec '10 across all standard tariffs.

In the prior round of cuts SSE dual fuel rates fell by 4%, single gas by 7% and pre-payment rates by 9% on 29 Mar '10. E.ON. 11.4% elec, 18.1% gas hike (13 Sep '11)

E.ON's announced a price rise of 11.4% for electricity and 18.1% on gas with effect from 13 September 2011. It doesn't include those on its social tariff WarmAssist or anyone on a fixed product.

Previously it increased prices by 9% on electricity and 3% on gas prices from 4 Feb '11. EDF Energy. 6.5% gas, 7.5% electricity increase (Mar '11)

EDF Energy was the final big six provider to announce hikes - 6.5% on gas and 7.5% on electricity to kick in on 2 Mar '11- after initially pledging to hold standard prices until March, in order to retain competitive advantage in the short-term and attract switchers.

EDF Energy previously hiked 2.6% on standard electricity prices on 1 Oct '10, with 1.2 million customers hit. Those in the London, South East and South West regions weren't affected. Npower. 5% gas & elec rises (Jan '11)

Npower hiked gas and electricity prices by an average 5.1% on 4 Jan '11.

Those on its social tariff were protected with a price fix until April '11.

So heat your home or business for less and heat smarter.