Page 5 | Carer charging electric bike? How much adding to bill?

helpmakingahome · 2025-12-26T15:45:34+00:00

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?

ContentedAlpaca · 27/12/2025 09:20

Frequency · 26/12/2025 18:08

This is actually costed into the price of care. Carers do receive payment for mileage/fuel costs. They don't get paid for travelling between service users, but they can claim back the cost of fuel.

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The care company a family member works for gives 50p an hour for fuel. That goes nowhere near the cost of fuel, wear and tear, additional insurance for using their car for work. In contrast, it's usually about 45p per mile when people are in full time employment and travel for their job.

They aren't allowed to charge their phones in a client's home, but their phone is necessary for their schedule, filling in client notes, contacting head office and god forbid, phoning ambulances.

Luckyingame · 27/12/2025 09:33

couldthisbe2501 · 26/12/2025 16:16

is she a good carer? If so, and you’re still worried about her ‘stealing’ a few pence then you could always look after your aunt yourself?

This.
With knobs!

DeftWasp · 27/12/2025 09:54

Electrician here, estimates are about right, between 5 to 20 pence per hour dependant on tariff and charging state of battery (more power is drawn at the start of charging a flat battery and reduces as the battery moves towards equalisation (full charge) - its not linear, so if she is "float charging" topping up, it will be a lot lower than charging from flat.

And on a note of pedantry, you can't steal electricity, the legal term is abstraction 😀

As others said, is she a good carer, that's the main thing!

rainbowunicorn · 27/12/2025 09:55

helpmakingahome · 26/12/2025 17:23

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 quick Google would have given you all the info you needed. But really do you have no idea how electricity is charged?Surely anyone with a bit of common sense knows that charging a small battery for a short time isnt going to cost hundreds of pounds a month. It seems to me that you just wanted to get everyone frothing about the carer and then your rage bait thread didnt work out the way you expected.

ScarlettOYara · 27/12/2025 09:55

rainbowunicorn · 27/12/2025 09:55

A quick Google would have given you all the info you needed. But really do you have no idea how electricity is charged?Surely anyone with a bit of common sense knows that charging a small battery for a short time isnt going to cost hundreds of pounds a month. It seems to me that you just wanted to get everyone frothing about the carer and then your rage bait thread didnt work out the way you expected.

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Yes, I think it was supposed to be another CF thread.

DeftWasp · 27/12/2025 09:57

rainbowunicorn · 27/12/2025 09:55

A quick Google would have given you all the info you needed. But really do you have no idea how electricity is charged?Surely anyone with a bit of common sense knows that charging a small battery for a short time isnt going to cost hundreds of pounds a month. It seems to me that you just wanted to get everyone frothing about the carer and then your rage bait thread didnt work out the way you expected.

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A lot of people don't know, a lot of people also don't know that there is often no correlation between the loading in kWh and the cost.

A fan oven of 3kWh load on for an hour does not use 3kWh or 3 units of power, for example.

SeaShellsSanctuary1 · 27/12/2025 09:59

ChaChaChaChanges · 26/12/2025 15:52

Honestly, I’m incredulous that this even crossed your mind.

To be fair if the OP has no idea and thought it could be £5 a time it would be a very valid question

VanillaIceIceBaby · 27/12/2025 10:35

Boododedoop · 26/12/2025 18:15

Yes. People like me who believe that someone living on a small, fixed income due to poor health, and who requires a high level of care, should be able to spend their income on what benefits them. That they should not be expected to subsidise their carers’ travel expenses just because the individual is a carer and seen as beyond reproach.

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😂

BriefEncountersOfTheThirdKind · 27/12/2025 10:45

So instead of just Googling it

You came on here to almost have a go about it?

Ritasueandbobtoo9 · 27/12/2025 10:57

I honestly don’t think people really understand the crisis in care at the moment. The carer probably has 2-3 other people she is seeing 3 times per day as well so could be doing about 30 or even 50 miles a day.

XenoBitch · 27/12/2025 19:02

Ritasueandbobtoo9 · 27/12/2025 10:57

I honestly don’t think people really understand the crisis in care at the moment. The carer probably has 2-3 other people she is seeing 3 times per day as well so could be doing about 30 or even 50 miles a day.

Yep, and also in all weathers on her bike too. I bet there will be some people that would complain she turns up sopping wet at times.