HOUSEHOLDS are being asked for their help in an Oxford University study looking at how to bring down energy bills.

Researchers want people to set up special energy metres in their homes and then record what appliances they are using in a diary or smartphone app for 24-hours.

This will help experts work out patterns of electricity usage so they can manage the power grid in better ways during the busiest periods, which could lead to lower bills.

At peak times households are responsible for half of all demand, but little is still known about which appliances or activities are responsible.

The study is the first of its kind and is being launched today by the university's Environmental Change Institute.

Principal investigator Dr Phil Grunewald said: "This is an exciting opportunity for everyone to get a picture of their own electricity use, while contributing towards the big challenge of making sure that our sustainable energy future will also be secure and affordable."

Stress on the UK's electricity system at busy times is posing an increasing capacity challenge, the university said, with coal-fired plants due to be phased out by 2025.

A government commission set up to look at future needs of national infrastructure recently reported that up to £8.1bn could be saved if households became "smarter" about electricity, by using electricity at 'down times' rather than at peak times.

Oxford University's researchers want people to help by taking part in their online survey, at energy-use.org

Those who do so will then receive an electricity recorder to put in their home, as well as a leaflet to record their activities. They will also be entered into a draw to win a year’s free electricity.

Dr Grunewald added: "These data will tell us for the first time what people are doing at the times when national demand peaks.

"We also want to find out whether people are willing to be more flexible about the timing of when they use it and how best they can be supported in this."

Professor Jim Watson, director of the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC), a partner organisation for the METER project, said: "We still don't know enough about the social, economic and behavioural drivers of electricity consumption in our homes.

"This project will significantly improve knowledge about the opportunities and limits to change, and help us identify new approaches to shifting or reducing consumption."

This research is being funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). It also also backed by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the National Grid, UKERC, Dynamics of Energy, Mobility and Demand, Bioregional, Moixa, Pilio and Linko?ping University.

For information visit energy-use.org.