Welcome fall in home heating oil prices: cheapest and most expensive areas to buy 900 litres in Northern Ireland revealed

The first substantial price drop in a month comes as electricity costs go up for around 30% of Northern Ireland customers.

Budget Energy electricity prices went up by 27% yesterday, while a 33% increase for SSE Airtricity customers is due to come into effect on Wednesday.

The companies had announced electricity price increases in October 2021, meaning this increase is the second in six months.

The price hikes by those two companies, who serve around 30% of households here, come after the largest provider in Northern Ireland, Power NI, announced its prices are to go up by 27.5% from July.

The latest figures from the Northern Ireland Consumer Council’s weekly home heating oil price checker shows that the average cost of 900 litres of kerosene in Northern Ireland is now £799.39.

That is the lowest figure reported since April, and represents a substantial drop on last week’s average price of £846.58.

This comes as new data shows that the energy crisis has increased the number of people who are thinking about upgrading their homes to ensure that less heat leaks out.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has found that over a quarter (26%) of adults in the UK are now considering changes to their homes’ energy efficiency. That is up from 19% last autumn when it asked the question.

The ONS found that among those thinking about the energy efficiency of their homes, 42% were considering improving their insulation, 21% think solar panels might be an option, and 32% say they might make other improvements.

But hard-pressed families could be caught in a catch-22 scenario due to the cost of renovations, the ONS data suggests.

Around three quarters (74%) of those surveyed said they are not planning on improving energy efficiency, with more than a third of these citing the cost. Another 29% said they cannot make changes because they do not own their homes, while 26% felt that their homes are efficient enough.

The consumer council statistics, meanwhile, also reveal the regional variation within Northern Ireland when it comes to home heating oil prices.

The cheapest prices were found in the Antrim and Newtownabbey council area, with an average cost for 900 litres of £784.30.

The most expensive area to buy 900 litres of heating oil, meanwhile, was the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon area where price checkers listed the average cost as £818.83.

Speaking about the electricity price increases, Peter McClenaghan, director of infrastructure and sustainability at the Northern Ireland Consumer Council, said: “These price increases are the latest in a stream of bad news regarding the increasing cost of living in Northern Ireland.”