Q&A How to warm up and keep bills down this winter

With the return of darker evenings this weekend and the heating coming on, Zoe Wood puts your energy questions to our experts

- Zoe Wood

The clocks change this weekend, and suddenly there will be no escaping the fact winter is coming. The return of darker, colder nights also means that keeping energy costs down becomes a priority for many Britons.

Although energy bills have eased from recent highs, the latest price cap revision by Ofgem, energy regulator for Great Britain, was a rise of almost £150 (just under 10%) to the equivalent of £1,717 a year for an average dual-fuel household paying by direct debit.

We asked readers to contact us with their questions, big and small, about domestic gas and electricity use, as well as other energy-related problems, so we could put them to the experts.

Much is made of the cost benefits of an air fryer, but I can't find any useful comparisons with a gas oven.

The popularity of air fryers - essentially counter-top fan ovens - exploded during the cost of living crisis, with a recent survey suggesting they are now the third-most used kitchen appliance in the UK after toasters and microwaves.

They are "a great way to cook smaller portions of food" because you don't have to waste energy heating a large oven, says Elise Melville, an energy expert at price comparison site Uswitch. "Although they use a similar amount of power as a conventional oven, they can cut the cooking time by as much as half. A 1.5kW air fryer, for example, would cost 18p to run for 30 minutes."

However, a conventional oven can be very useful for large gatherings that require the use of both shelves, she adds.

"Gas is much cheaper than electricity, so a 2kW conventional gas oven would cost 11p if used for an hour, or 5p for a half hour. In general, a gas oven is likely to be cheaper to use than an air fryer, unless you're cooking a small amount of food for a short time."

Is it cheaper to boil a kettle to wash up, or use hot water from the tap?