to be worried by how many people don't know roughly how much energy they use?

[cakeorwine]

Read loads of threads on here about people being surprised by their bills. I appreciate that some people struggle to read meters but Smart Meters are more common nowadays and people do get regular bills.

It seems that there are people who are unaware of how much they pay per KWH, their standing charge and roughly how many units they use - and how it can vary.

For information - the 'average house' is supposed to use 2400 KWH of electricity and 12,000 KWH of gas per year.

That's what the price cap is based on - with the appropriate charge per KWH and a standing charge.

Knowing what you pay per month isn't that helpful if you don't know how much you use - and that's when the new charges and tariffs are going to hurt.

If you know what devices use power, you may be able to make changes.

I know some people know this and how much power they use but I worry that there are many people who don't and will get really caught out.

@ChickenStripper go out to your meter and check the gas reading and then do it in a week's time. Ours didn't register any useage for about 6 months, so we were in debt for the gas useage, we just naively paid a monthly DD thinking this would cover it.

From this point kettle might give me quite a big expense over the year even if my straightener uses more KWh

It's an interesting maths question.

Work out how many minutes (roughly) you use straightners and roughly how much water you boil in a kettle in a year and see which costs mosts.

Why are you worried?

If strangers don't know their energy consumption, how is it going to affect you?

But what would knowing the kWh give me?

I know what it costs me in £.

I’m in Northern Ireland. There are 3 companies here and most people aren’t on mains gas.

What difference does it make? When I was skint I had a fixed amount. If the price went up or it was very cold I didn’t have any roughness in my budget. It was just cold in the house.

I’m not now and it doesn’t matter to me - I will have the house at a comfortable temperature.

I haven’t seen those threads I’ve seen people worried about affording the increase though.

Not interesting to me

We can debate cake or wine though 😂

I haven’t seen those threads I’ve seen people worried about affording the increase though

And if people are worried about the increase, then surely knowing what it costs to run a device (because you know the KWH) will help you make some changes that might help.

Well I’d assume people aren’t stupid and they’d be able to work out via google if necessary?

We unplugged our smart meter about 2 days after they put it in. I saw no point in it at all. We are already careful with turning things off, not boiling too much water, wearing layers rather than heating, shutting doors etc etc. I don't need a little holier than though device being smug in the corner about it.

I wonder how many people don't know the approximate MPG of their car. And how much it costs to drive a mile just in fuel. Or in electricity

I don't need a little holier than though device being smug in the corner about it

I don't know. It was useful this morning to point to DS about the cost of his shower.

My mileage is 40 mpg. Just over.

Fuel is roughly £1.40 per litre of which there are 4.55 in a gallon.

So fuel is £6.37 per gallon.

So 49 miles costs me £6.27.

@cakeorwine

I wonder how many people don't know the approximate MPG of their car. And how much it costs to drive a mile just in fuel. Or in electricity

I don't. I have a hybrid, so I know it's better than the last car, but I drive to work, the occasional long distance trip, and to the supermarket if we're buying a lot.

Is this actually more of a veiled dig that you're annoyed by how much we are all wasting rather than using?

Sorry. Fat fingers. 6.37

Which means a mile is 16p

Except it’s not. Because most journeys of a mile or less are in a cold car that costs more to run. So that only works as a very rough average.

Is this actually more of a veiled dig that you're annoyed by how much we are all wasting rather than using

Not really. I would be up there on hypocrisy for that.

Anyone who has been really poor will know how to work these numbers out in a way that works for them.

It’s kind of patronising and a bit privileged to expect them to do it your way.

@cakeorwine

I wonder how many people don't know the approximate MPG of their car. And how much it costs to drive a mile just in fuel. Or in electricity

Again, I think this is a cost that people count in much larger quantities rather than as single units. Every driver knows how much it costs to fill the tank.

It’s kind of patronising and a bit privileged to expect them to do it your way

What way do you think I am doing?

I'm the same, I never gave it a seconds tonight til I had to talk to the business energy company about these increases. They spoke in a language I didn't understand and I realise that I was really naive/stupid that I never looked into it at all before and just took their word of it about all the kw bullshit

I don't know or care how much a unit of electricity is, or gas, or a litre of petrol, litre of milk.

It's beyond irrelevant to me. My brain just doesn't have room for that kind of minutiae.

I just use what I need. I'm not extravagant but i don't waste brain bandwidth on that stuff.

So what I'm saying is yes, some of us are stupid as fuck but also busy as fuck and burying our heads in the sand.

I don't know either. I take meter readings every month and send them to my supplier. I'm fixed until summer 23, probably the luckiest decision I've ever made.

It seems that there are people who are unaware of how much they pay per KWH, their standing charge and roughly how many units they use - and how it can vary.

There is no standing charge with power ni and where I live there is no gas. You’ve assumed there is a standing charge and that everyone has gas.

You’ve also assumed that people need to know how much they pay per kWh to budget effectively. They don’t. They just need to know how much on £ they can afford. They can cut back on electric or gas use without knowing the exact kWh figure.

@lololololollll

I'm the same, I never gave it a seconds tonight til I had to talk to the business energy company about these increases. They spoke in a language I didn't understand and I realise that I was really naive/stupid that I never looked into it at all before and just took their word of it about all the kw bullshit

Think I meant "second thought "but I'm tipsy. Keeping warm with wine instead of gas

@AfterSchoolWorry

I don't know or care how much a unit of electricity is, or gas, or a litre of petrol, litre of milk.

It's beyond irrelevant to me. My brain just doesn't have room for that kind of minutiae.

I just use what I need. I'm not extravagant but i don't waste brain bandwidth on that stuff.

I am exactly the same.

You’ve also assumed that people need to know how much they pay per kWh to budget effectively. They don’t. They just need to know how much on £ they can afford. They can cut back on electric or gas use without knowing the exact kWh figure

Do you think it would be useful to understand which devices to cut back on or to reduce the use of that would have the biggest impact or would have little impact?