Fuel Bills, Getting Help to Pay Them - and Cutting Them Down

We've just got in our latest fuel bill for the winter. They come every couple of months here - and this one was a lot less than it might have been, thanks to something very French, called 'Paraffin' - and I'll get to the beauties of paraffin in a minute.

In the meantime - and with fuel bills in mind - if you have problems meeting your energy bills there are various places you can find help:

British Gas Energy Trust offers grants to individuals and families to meet arrears of energy charges and other household bills. Look at their website to read more about what they offer and see their on-line application form.

EDF Energy Trust offers grants and assistance to account-holding customers to help with energy and household debts and costs.

There are also various Government programmes - like Warm Front England - which you can find on http://www.direct.gov.uk by using the search box on the upper right hand side of the site.

Anyway - coming back to France and paraffin - we'd forgotten about paraffin until we decided to live here. And then we discovered - as most French people seem to know - that paraffin is very cheap, that it doesn't smell any more, and that paraffin heaters (and particularly Zibro paraffin heaters) are attractive and portable, and very, very safe.

We were doubtful about using paraffin, but this year - this very cold year! - has changed our minds. Paraffin - even considering the initial price of buying something like a Zibro heater - is cheap and efficient. Much cheaper, and much more efficient, we found, than using electrcity or gas. Paraffin is worth a thought - if not this year, then next.

Geoff - http://www.metlissbarfield.com