To heat or eat? A very real question for Britain's poorest families who are struggling to afford their energy bills.

Barnado's report, aptly titled 'Priced out', highlights the current reality of families in poverty who are £450 short as they are 'priced out' of heating their homes adequately.

The report states that families with low incomes need to spend around £1,165 per year on fuel but families with the lowest incomes are only spending £723, creating a 'fuel gap' which is detrimental to children's health and family well-being.

The report also highlights how low income families are forced to pay for their gas and electricity by means of pre-payment meter, adding up to £80 onto the energy bill and are unable to benefit from any energy discounts as they do not have the option to pay by Direct Debit or access cheaper internet tariffs.

Anne Marie Carrie, Barnado's Chief Executive said "Effectively these families are being penalised by their payment method at a time when they need the most financial help."

She went on to say, "Families should never have to choose between whether to heat their homes or put food on the table for their children."

Barnado's has launched 'Child in Crisis' appeal which calls for support to help the most vulnerable children and their families who are in poverty.

Anne Marie Carrie added "we would urge the government to truly tackle the issue of fuel poverty by the root, by bringing forward the requirement on landlords to make their properties energy efficient for tenants"

View Barnado's report 'Priced Out' here.

According to new research from uSwitch, consumers who are living in non-energy efficient properties are missing out on individual annual savings of up to £530. That's over four in ten households.

Reasons behind this bold figure vary from the notion that upgrades are not the best value for money to the lack of awareness around the variety of upgrades available.

When home energy efficiency upgrades are considered usually the first improvement to spring to mind is loft and cavity wall insulation. Although this is proven to show instant results and is considered to be an excellent investment, it can cost around £150 which for some consumers is not an option. There are however alternative steps that can be taken that will still have a positive effect without costing too much money.

Priced at around £30, Energy monitors enable the consumer to keep a track of their energy usage and see in real time how much money they are spending. This small investment could offer savings of up to £52 per year. Another savvy device is the Radiator booster. Available for around £25, it sits on top of the existing radiator and circulates the hot air around the room by means of a small fan resulting in savings of up to £140 per year.

The price of energy is continuously fluctuating and although the energy companies have recently reduced costs by an average £34 per household, uSwitch report that customers are still £190 worse off due to the average increase of £224 per household in 2010-2011.

It is worth noting that there are government grants available to everyone for home energy efficiency upgrades. Don't miss out on any savings; check that your home is running as efficiently as possible today.

French owned energy giant EDF have reported an 8.5% rise in profits much to the disgust of the consumer.

They are the first of the 'big six' to announce their profits which have hit £1.6 billion despite the milder winter and a fall in consumption.

During a time where fuel poverty is a very real and worrying matter, where families are struggling to pay energy bills and are having to choose between 'heating or eating', the announcement has hit a nerve and consumers are demanding affordable energy.

Questions are being raised as to why consumers are being 'ripped off' with extortionate pricing and whether energy companies could and should cut the price of gas and electricity further. The figures from EDF, which has around 5.5 million customers, indicates that although there is an 8% drop in fuel usage their profits have soared.

Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch, Ann Robinson, says "On the back of the profits announced today, we would urge EDF Energy to relieve the pressure on its UK household customers by passing on the benefits of lower wholesale prices. It previously cut its gas prices by 5% on the 7th of February and now is the time to go even further."

Consumers await the profit announcements from the remaining energy companies.

uSwitch are campaigning to ministers to cut the VAT on energy.

Unlike basic household items like water and some food which has zero VAT, gas and electricity are currently charged at 5%.

uSwitch suggest that removing the 5% VAT from the home energy bill would enable thousands of consumers to step out of the fuel poverty trap by saving around £60 per year.

Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch, Ann Robinson, said "Removing VAT from our energy bills would help to alleviate the growing financial pressure that consumers are coming under, enable many more to keep warm in the winter and snatch 250,000 households from the grip of fuel poverty. When added to the recent £34 price cut made by suppliers, the removal of VAT would see household energy bills tumble by almost £100 a year."

The removal of the 5% VAT will mean an estimated bill of £1.6 billion to the government but the money will go directly back into the pockets of consumers.

Imagine that you could pay less for your energy. Imagine that you could negotiate your energy prices directly with the energy companies and pay a cost far below any published tariff. Well, maybe that option will be available sooner than you anticipate.

Online campaigning group 38 Degrees and consumer group Which? have today launched a campaign called 'The Big Switch'.

The concept is based on the power of collective purchasing and economy of scale. The more people interested, the greater the possibility of a better price.

Through bulk purchasing of gas and electricity it is projected that thousands of households will be able to benefit from much cheaper energy bills.

A first in the UK, the campaign invites consumers to register their interest on the Big Switch website up until the end of March. Which? will then subsequently invite the UK energy companies to outbid each other with low prices in a 'reverse auction'. Once the deal has been secured, each consumer who has registered their interest will be emailed with the details of the deal and offered the opportunity to switch at the confirmed price.

The campaign is aimed at challenging the big six over their high energy prices with the incentive to gain many more customers if they win the auction. For the consumer it offers the opportunity to pay the cheapest possible price for their energy.

According to energy regulator Ofgem 6 out of 10 people have never switched energy supplier and Which? reports that a staggering £4.1 billion a year is gained by the energy companies due to consumers not being on the best possible tariff and naively paying more for their energy than they need to.

The campaign has political support from Energy secretary Edward Davey and the shadow energy and climate secretary, Caroline Flint

To register your interest Click Here. The switching process will be handled by Which? and there is no obligation to switch once you have registered your interest.