Best apps to stay on top of your electricity bills

TODAY the new energy price cap comes into force. The Energy Price Guarantee limits how much you can be charged per unit of gas or electricity with the aim to ensure a typical UK household will pay no more than £2,500 for energy.

Your exact bill will be for how much energy you use. The less you use, the less you will pay overall and so there are several free apps and websites to help you calculate which of your appliances cost the most to run.

For a start, Nous.com is a website that helps you work out what your household bills are going to be, including gas and electricity, by checking out your current providers and monitoring your usage. Founder Greg Marsh says: ‘Nous looks at consumption and other factors about your household and even looks at your mortgage, council tax, water and all your household bills.’

If you have a smart meter you could download an app called Loop which analyses your smart meter data and shows you easy ways to use less electricity. Those behind it claim, on average, Loop households cut their electricity usage by 10 per cent. It also has a solar simulator which uses your data to show you what difference solar panels would make. The Hugo app covers both gas and electricity and lets you view yearly, monthly, weekly and daily stats for both. You can also set a household budget and get alerts you when you near your set limit. It’s free but users input bank or credit card details to verify the account linked with the smart meter.