Carer charging electric bike? How much adding to bill?

[helpmakingahome]

My aunt lives quite rurally and had a carer come in 3 times a day to help her get up etc. When the carer arrives, she immediately plugs in her electric bike into an extension lead in the outside lean to and leaves her bike charging there for an hour.

The carer keeps failing her driving test so can't get a car and relies on the electric bike to get her about. I understand that my aunt is quite remote and maybe the carer is worried about running out of battery in the middle of nowhere but it seems a bit off. I don't know how much this is adding to my aunt's electricity bill, she's on disability so quite a small fixed income. Any ideas how much it will be costing to charge? If it's a couple if quid then it's fine but I don't know. Is this normal now?

I'll pay 60p a week for her if its bothering you that much

Christ on a bike

Scuse the pun

God there are some people on here who don’t even view ‘the help’ as human do they?

I did care jobs as a student to support myself. A family complained I drank their mum's tea. I carried my own flask. Never had anything in a client's home as I carried an epipen. Loved the job but relatives not so much a lot of them were unhinged.

I once stayed overnight with a friend and he insisted that I plug my electric car into socket in his garage (not an Ev charger) and I looked at his smart meter in the evening and again in the morning and it had gone up by pennies. And that included everything else that was on over night.

Love to know what the 15% 'YANBU' people would use to justify that vote - its a few pence, its change you'd find down the back of the sofa, what a ridiculous thing to get pissy about!

Carers are low paid. I do everything to make my sons carers feel at home including nice biscuits and coffee as I don’t want to lose them etc. looking after my DS is tough so I have to make the job more attractive.

Is this for real, are you really that penny pinching and small minded?
Good carers are worth their weight in gold!

It’s nothing like an electric car!

Pennies at the most

Carers do an amazing, thankless job for far too little money. It's disgusting how many people seem to forget that they are actually human as well.

What a horrible nasty attitude when they happily rely on a stranger to care for their loved one day in day out, yet begrudge them a few pence of electricity, toilet roll, coffee and milk or whatever.

Thanks everyone for letting me know how much it costs to change a bike, I honestly had no idea if it was pennies or £40 a time! I'm obviously not going to worry if it's a few pounds a day, I was just concerned if it was adding hundreds to her bill every month. There's no problems with carers using anything in the house, same as when we're in work. As long as they're good to my aunt, everything is fine. I just hadn't come across an electric bike before so had no idea.

A lot of pensioners are on high tariffs and struggle through the winter paying bills. It's not unreasonable to ask how much it costs.

I'd also be wondering about the fire hazard if she's not using a proper charger.

Our smart meter indicates a 5 hour (full charge) is £0.90

It won’t be a few pounds a day. Even on a high tariff.

Then why be critical of her and start a thread if you had no idea?
It's easy enough to find out.

Most workplaces don't allow them to be charged on the premises, not due to the cost but because of the significant risk of fires whilst charging.

Personally I wouldn't allow the carer to do it.

If you do let them then make sure it is the correct charger & definitely don't use an extension lead. Also check the house insurance as you may not be covered if there is a fire

Someone in my village had a huge fire earlier in the year caused by a charging e-bike battery. It caused a huge amount of damage, her 2 kittens were killed & then insurance wouldn't pay out as the modified charger she was using invalidated her insurance.

The OP said outside.

Good luck finding another career rural if saying no.
Is it really a hill to die on?

She’s being paid for turning up. She’s not volunteering.

Even our full electric car has only cost us £250 over the last year for all our home charging. If an elderly relative had found a good and reliable carer, I would pay that for them if money was a problem. For an e-bike, it is not even a remote consideration.

How much is she getting paid for travelling there?

It’s nice that you are looking out for your aunt and making sure that she isn’t being taken advantage of. Well done for checking.

Op, how many days per week is this happening?

If the carer had passed her driving test and was arriving by car she’d have had to pay for fuel and would posters be thinking it’s okay for your aunty to be chipping in for that as well?

You've said your aunt is on a small fixed income and over a month the 3 times a day battery charging could be the difference between your aunt enjoying a nice meal or having to have tea and toast instead.

Someone in my neighbourhood had a house fire caused by a tumble dryer.
You have to be careful with electrical appliances.

I’ve no idea. I wasn’t aware that people were paid for travelling to work. But they do get a salary just as the carer does - she’s not working out of the goodness of her heart.

So you think the carer shouldn't charge her bike?

People like you......