A major electricity firm is giving away free electric blankets to customers to help alleviate some of the strain caused by the cost-of-living crisis.
The biggest jump in domestic energy bills in living memory came into effect last Friday (1 April), with many families facing further financial struggles across the UK.
Trade body Energy UK previously warned gas and electricity bills could go up by more than 50 percent after regulator Ofgem raised the price cap in the average home from £1277 to £1971.
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With snow and colder temperatures hitting many parts of the UK, conventional heating methods have left people facing enormous bills.
As such, Octopus Energy is now handing out heated blankets in a bid to help customers keep warm on a budget.
The company is offering 5,000 of the Bauer Professional heated throws, which cost £40 on Amazon, for free.
If you want to get your hands on one, just fill out the online assistance tool where you can also apply for additional help with your energy bills.
You’ll have to be quick if you want to get one though, as the Mirror reports that the firm is low on stock.
Numerous people have taken to Twitter to praise Octopus Energy for the move, with one writing: “@OctopusEnergy A Big thank you for the electric blanket.
“Being in a Power wheelchair 24/7 - I feel the cold more with little room for exercise to warm up, and this useful gift will warm me up. Thank you.
“Not all energy companies are the same it seems. I am a normal customer.”
Another tagged the company and said: “That's pretty nice. Much cheaper to run an electric blanket than it is to run a boiler.”
Octopus Energy also responded to a woman on Twitter who revealed she and her mum had been struggling with the energy price hike.
They said: “Hey Chrissie, I'm truly sorry to hear you and your mum are going through such a difficult time.
“We really are here to help and I'd love to get an electric blanket arranged for you both.”
Beyond heating appliances, if you’re wondering how much it’s going to cost to run your electrical goods, you can use the calculator on Sust-It - just don’t take it as absolute gospel as the figures may vary across the country.
Looking at kettles - which most people use more than once every day - there’s another large increase, with even a basic kettle costing £57.42 to run for a year, up from £43.06.
If you haven’t got energy saving lightbulbs in your house yet, you just might after this, as the cost of running a 40W lightbulb for the year will now be around £18.40, a 60W will cost £27.59 annually, and 100W a whopping £45.99.
The good news on this front is that energy saving lightbulbs will save you about 80 percent of that.
If you are against food waste and reheat a lot of leftovers, the new energy tariff will cost more on the microwave, too.
A standard 1000w microwave will cost 3.27p to run for five minutes. Before the tariff rise, the cost was 2.45p for five minutes.
If you want to do some calculations of your own, you can do so here.
Daisy Phillipson