Clare Francis, consumer finance expert at MoneySupermarket.com, said: “Many households will be dealing with a festive financial hangover this January so a huge energy bill will come as an unwelcome shock.

“A spate of price rises which mostly came into effect before the Christmas period saw the cost of energy increase by an average of7.6 per cent, leaving many people worrying about the crippling costs they could face in the coming months.”

Customers are being advised to ‘fight back’ against rising costs by comparing available tariffs and shopping around for the best tariffs.

Households on standard energy products should take action as quickly as possible, says Francis, as the typical saving they could make by moving to the best value fixed deal is £173.

Francis said: “This saving would go some way to offset their costly winter bills, and by fixing their energy, they can safeguard against any future price rises over the term of the deal and ensure they don’t face the same bill shock after Christmas 2013.”

Customers on fixed energy deals are also told to be aware of when their deals will expire.

According to MoneySupermarket.com, WebSaver 13 and Online Fixed from British Gas expired on 31st December as well as Energy Discount and Fix for 2012 from EDF and Online Energy Saver 16 from Scottish Power.

A further group including Fixed Price 2013 from EDF, and Bill Saver, and Price Fix 2013 from Npower all expired yesterday.

Francis added: “Ideally customers who have fixed deals expiring should look to begin the switching process about six weeks before the termination date of the deal to avoid paying more than they need for their gas or electricity. However, it’s not too late to switch now, even if your deal has already expired.

“The best fixed deal currently available is the iSave Fixed v6 from First Utility, with typical bills of around £1,170 and would safeguard you from any further price rises for the duration of the 12 month contract.

“Energy bills only ever seem to be on the up so I recommend taking a fixed deal for peace of mind and not having to worry about price rises if they are announced.”

MoneySupermarket advises that small steps can also help keep the cost of your annual bill down: Turning the heating down by one degree, doing the washing at 30 degrees rather than 40 or 60, taking a shower rather than a bath will all reduce your energy consumption and collectively over the course of the year could shave off a significant amount of money from energy bills.