Energy bills are often one of the biggest financial concerns for households, especially as the scarcity of resources has led to all major energy suppliers raising the cost of gas and electricity in recent years to cope with supply problems. If you've never considered switching your energy supplier before to save money, there's a good chance you could enjoy significant reductions on your gas and electricity bills when taking positive action to change.

There are various factors that will influence the cost of your home's energy supply, no matter which supplier you use - including your location and amount of energy you consume each month. Location plays a bigger part in determining energy prices than many people think, with some suppliers only operating in certain areas and others being forced to charge higher rates to deliver electricity and gas across longer distances to properties in more remote locations, away from power plants. It's not usually practical to move home simply to benefit from lower energy tariffs, of course - but the second factor, that of household energy consumption, is within most people's power to change for the better.

Analysing your electricity and gas usage habits could help you identify areas for change to lower your fuel bills even before you look into switching suppliers. This could include avoiding leaving TVs and other devices on standby and making sure you always switch off lights when leaving rooms, as well as replacing older appliances with modern devices designed to offer greater energy efficiency. But even if you make all these positive changes to your property and make your household gas and electricity consumption more manageable, you may still feel you are paying too much for your energy - which could mean it's time to switch supplier.

Going online and using internet tools can be the best way to source cheap gas and electricity independently, and this should involve visits to energy suppliers' websites as well as price comparison sites that make it easier to compare and contrast similar tariffs and services side by side. Switching to a lower cost tariff could potentially save you more than £400 per year, depending on your situation, so even if you're relatively happy with your current supplier it's still worth doing the research to see whether there may be more suitable options out there.

Some people choose to hire independent experts to advise them on the best electricity tariffs for their situation, but this is only recommended for large businesses that operate various premises, where even a minor difference in gas and electricity rates can have significant effects on the bottom line.

Fiona Roy writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.