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.

Do you think people are stupid? Genuinely?

The tumble drier costs a lot.

The kettle.

The oven.

The electric fire.

The plug in oil radiator.

The straighteners and hair drier.

The shower.

But I never use straighteners and I have a quick shower. Knowing the kWh cost isn’t relevant to that.

When I was skint, everything got cut. I learnt how to live efficiently and effectively. Knowing the kWh made no difference to that.

Knowing that I was putting x amount a week in electric was what mattered.

[quote Wrongkindofovercoat]@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.[/quote]
Oh we get readings and estimates. It just doesn't show on the smart meter.

Just out of interest since you seem knowledgeable, does it cost the same to charge a device eg wireless headphones on a laptop as in the wall?

@M0rT

Just out of interest since you seem knowledgeable, does it cost the same to charge a device eg wireless headphones on a laptop as in the wall?

Ultimately the laptop has to be charged and will then discharge to the device. The overall cost in terms of electricity only will be the same as the capacity of the devices battery is the same.

However, by using your laptop battery more you will by a small margin degrade and wear out the battery faster the more you use it so I would use a plug in the wall if you can.

Do you think people are stupid? Genuinely

I think there are people out there who struggle with maths and don't understand how the actual running costs of devices.

Looking at your list - you have some high powered devices that are used for a long time - e.g. radiators

Low power devices whose use can add up - but you would have to do a lot of cups of water to even come close to a radiator

Some high power devices that aren't used much.

You can cut everything or you can cut certain things to make effective cuts,

I don’t use the plug on oil radiator for a long time. It is used for half an hour in the middle of the day if I feel the house is cold. It’s a 2kw radiator so that “costs” me 1kwh of electricity for the half hour.

Or I can put my heating on. Which costs more because I’m heating the whole house.

I did used to have the numbers for running the boiler but I worked that out about 3 years ago - and I had different numbers for winter and summer and for heating and hot water separately.

When you’re really poor these things matter.

@Inspectorslack

Do you think people are stupid? Genuinely?

The tumble drier costs a lot.

The kettle.

The oven.

The electric fire.

The plug in oil radiator.

The straighteners and hair drier.

The shower.

But I never use straighteners and I have a quick shower. Knowing the kWh cost isn’t relevant to that.

When I was skint, everything got cut. I learnt how to live efficiently and effectively. Knowing the kWh made no difference to that.

Knowing that I was putting x amount a week in electric was what mattered.

But some people are paying a monthly amount and not realising its not covering their usage. They think their monthly payment is fixed rather than the kWh price that is fixed.

We are more than double that for electricity but less for gas. I think around 5,500kwh for electricity and 8,000kwh for gas. 5 people, 3 bed house, gas boiler for hot water and central heating. We are low users for hot water and heating but high for electricity.

Not people on pre pay meters. They know exactly what they’re paying.

When you’re really poor these things matter

I know.

I know what it's like to worry about spending and heating costs.
That's why I know what it costs to run devices.

So why would you think other people don’t know either? I’m really confused.

@Inspectorslack

So why would you think other people don’t know either? I’m really confused.

Do you honestly think most people would know -even f given the cost per KWH - how much it costs to run a 2000 w heater for 1/2 hour?

Or a 200 watt TV for 5 hours?

I’m sorry I’m trying to understand but I don’t see why you think the kWh price is so important. I just would work out a daily rate and if I needed to cut back I’d eat things that didn’t take long to cook or use the slow cooker so the oven wasn’t on or I’d have short showers not a bath and have the hot water on for less time.

I don’t think it does worry you, I think it just makes you feel smart that you know this information.

Yes I do. I just worked out how much a mile costs me in a car and I’m no genius.

A 2000w heater is 2kw. So it’s 2 x whatever price you’re paying per unit on your electric bill.

A 200 watt tv is 0.2 of a kw so your example is .2 x whatever price per kWh and then multiply that by 5 to give the 5 hour figure.

I don't even think that is on the science curriculum in many schools. The cost of running devices.

Yes I do. I just worked out how much a mile costs me in a car and I’m no genius

I said most people.

I think even if people didn’t know off the top of their heads they could easily work it out.

@Inspectorslack

I think even if people didn’t know off the top of their heads they could easily work it out.

Well, let's see what happens when the price cap kicks in and people get their bills and start asking about how to reduce them.

It’s not even science. It’s very very basic maths. If you’re inclined to work it out that way, which I’m not sure is useful for a lot of people.

My daily use is £3. If it goes up 50% my daily use will increase by £1.50 and be £4.50.

What can I cut down? I will then work that out. Whether for my household that is use the drier less or not use an electric fire or straighteners or hairdryer or whatever.

But I’m not sure I’m going to give up drying my hair which takes a set amount of time just because my hairdryer is comparatively expensive by kWh.

We used to be brassic when the DCs were little and so I've always taken monthly meter readings. That way I felt I was on top of things.

We are now in a much better financial position but I still take monthly readings and add them to my spreadsheet, think it goes back to 2003!

I don't really understand why it matters in kWh. If you know what your monthly direct debit is then surely that's enough? If you currently pay £150 and prices double then you will be paying £300. It might vary by a few quid due to fixed charges but not much. How would it help to know how many units that is?

We are now in a much better financial position but I still take monthly readings and add them to my spreadsheet, think it goes back to 2003

Apparently average energy consumption has gone down as devices become much more efficient. I bet you could track your usage and see life changes.

Our boiler broke last year so we needed some electric heaters. That had an impact on the exaggerated predictive usage that Shell have for us this year.

Not that shocking. I also couldn't tell you who our supplier is or our bill to the nearest £100. I could find that info if I needed it but my husband does it and I don't need to micromanage him.

Has that average use data been updated since people are WFH more now and consequently using more energy. This can be offset by reduced commuting costs and not buying a daily coffee.