With energy suppliers announcing that their prices for gas and electricity are going up yet again this winter, worried consumers will be trying to cut down on heating their home in order to save on bills.

But research by uSwitch has revealed that a seven per cent - roughly £90 - rise in bills will tip a further 314,000 households into fuel poverty, given that the average fuel bill has gone up by 156 per cent since 2004, from £522 to £1,334 this year.

Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at the price comparison site, noted that the figures speak for themselves.

"This is why consumers believe that energy is rapidly becoming unaffordable and why almost nine in ten (87 per cent) will be rationing their energy usage this winter," she commented.

"The impact of higher energy prices on households is immense. People need to adjust quickly and there are two key steps to this - making sure we pay the lowest possible price for our energy and learning to use less of it by becoming energy efficient."

One way to become more aware of how much energy you can save is to replace old incandescent lamps with LED light bulbs, which emit higher levels of illumination, use less electricity and have a longer life span than other bulbs.

While they can involve a higher initial financial outlay than other lights, LED bulbs soon present a return on investment as you'll be using much less energy to power them.

Indeed, it was reported last week that Powys County Council - which hit the headlines four years ago by deciding to switch off thousands of street lights to save money - could now be turning to the energy efficient bulbs to light up its constituents' lives.

The local authority will spend £1.4 million on LED bulbs and install them in 14,000 streetlamps from next month.