The average household energy bill will rise by £146 a year from 1 October - but it may be possible to beat the hikes and save more than £100 by picking a fixed-rate deal.

The typical home currently pays energy bills of £1,568 a year, for a deal with prices set by regulator Ofgem's price cap.

But this will rise to £1,717 from 1 October, or 10 per cent, for those on variable-rate energy deals regulated by the price cap.

But households may be able to beat the cap and save money by taking out a fixed-rate energy deal.

At the moment, most energy deals are variable. That means they change price, normally four times a year when Ofgem adjusts its price cap.

Fixed rates, as the name suggests, offer set prices for unit rates (the energy used) and standing charges (daily fees paid regardless of any energy used).

Before the energy crisis of 2021, most energy deals were fixed rate, with variable rates reserved for homes that had fallen off a fixed deal and not taken out a new one.

If you can find a fixed rate cheaper than the price cap likely to come in in October - though many are not - then you can save money on your energy bills. 

The current cheapest fixed rate energy deal is from Outfox the Market for £1,555 a year, or £162 less than the 1 October price cap.

Beware strings attached to fixed rate energy deals 

Saving money by taking out a cheaper fixed rate might seem like a no-brainer, but there are some potential strings attached.

Firstly, all these figures are averages only. If you use more energy, you will still pay more with a fixed deal, as it only sets the cost of each unit of gas and electricity you use.

Secondly, many fixed rate deals come with expensive exit fees of up to £100 per fuel.

Even in the table above, five deals have exit fees of £50 per fuel (British Gas, E.On Next, Sainsbury's Energy, Ovo Energy, So Energy).

Two have exit fees of £25 per fuel (Outfox the Market and EDF Energy) while the rest have no exit fees. 

Exit fees can worsen the third potential problem with fixed rate deals - the fact that no-one can predict the future.

All these fixes currently work out cheaper than a household would pay by staying on the price cap.

But they also rely on energy prices not dropping further in the 12 to 15-month period of the fixed term.

If energy prices do fall, consumers would be better off swapping to a cheaper fix, or maybe even staying on a variable rate limited by the price cap.

Expensive exit fees can serve to lock consumers in to more expensive energy deals, as it becomes cheaper to stay than move. 

However, energy prices are not likely to fall until at least March of next year, according to experts at Cornwall Insight.

Instead, they are likely to rise again when Ofgem resets its price cap on 1 January 2025. 

Cheaper fixes may be available 

There may be cheaper fixed-rate deals out there than the ones listed above, but these are hidden from view.

Uswitch has looked at fixes that are open to anyone, but energy firms are free to sell fixes to their own customers only, and do not have to disclose these rates to the wider world.

If your energy firm contacts you about an exclusive fixed rate, check how it compares in price to what you pay now and what you'd pay in October.