Newspaper reports show that, according to official figures, average household consumption of gas and electricity fell by 11.3% between 2001 and 2011 as people tried to protect themselves against spiralling prices.
Despite this reduction in use, the amount families, pensioners and others spent on keeping warm rose by 23.5%, according to the Office of National Statistics.
As a nation, the heat and light bill rose from £28.8 billion to £35.6 billion – so taking £6.8billion (€8.1 billion) out of the pockets of struggling consumers.
Millions are left with a nightmare choice between heating and eating each winter, while rationing of the central heating is implicated in thousands of extra deaths among the elderly.
The situation is predicted to get worse against a background of rising gas prices and the imposition of green taxes to fund the building of thousands of wind farms and new nuclear power stations.
In the last six years the average household energy bill has rocketed from £660(€704.00) to £1,252 (€1490) a year – a 90% increase, according to Ann Robinson, director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com.
“This is an astonishing hike that has put households under a lot of pressure. As a result, consumers have been trying to cut back or ration their energy use.
“In fact, this last winter alone, more than eight in ten households cut down or rationed their energy use because of cost,” she said.
She added: “Consumers now have to understand that the only way energy bills are going is up and energy efficiency as one of the key ways to protect ourselves from these higher costs. This can be as simple as turning lights off when not in the room, but there are even bigger savings to be made from insulating walls and roofs.
The good news is that as energy providers race to meet energy efficiency targets, they are offering great deals including free insulation.”
Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 