energy matters

number 1 in a monthly series to equip you with knowledge and skills

usage

Do you know how much energy you use?

The easiest units to measure energy usage (or consumption, another word for the same thing) are kilowatt hours (kWh). This is the energy used when a 1 000 Watt appliance runs for an hour. Suppliers usually give you annual usage figures on statements or bills and they must provide you with an annual statement which shows these figures. Alternatively, take meter readings and ask your supplier, by phone or live chat, for your usage figures over a year. They won’t think you are a pest, honestly: instead, they will see you as someone aware of your energy consumption. 

Do you know how that compares with other households?

OFGEM, the energy regulator, does regular surveys across the UK of energy consumption in the home and this provides average figures, as well as indicating the usages considered to be low or high.     

In a year, the average UK household uses 2 900kWh of electricity and 12 000kWh of gas. For these figures, the cheapest annual price is around £445 for electricity and £350 for gas, working out at around £66 per month for both. Here is the annual table for households which have both electricity and gas:     

What is energy used on in the home?

A household energy bill typically divides as follows: HEATING (53%), HOT WATER (15%), APPLIANCES (23%), LIGHTS (6%), COOKING (3%). So around two thirds of usage is for space heating and water heating.  

Which factors affect energy use in the home?  

Many factors are important: 

• Property – size of the home, whether it’s a flat or a house, its layout, geographical location, altitude (East Kilbride knows all about that!), how exposed the home is to the elements, when the home was built, type of heating including its efficiency.    
• People – how many live in the house, their ages, any health problems, how much they feel the cold.
• Lifestyle – household income, how much of the day people are at home, number of energy-guzzling appliances and gadgets, whether the household uses a tumble dryer or hangs washing on a line or clothes horse, whether they turn on the heating as soon as the temperature drops or put on jumpers unless it’s really cold, how educated and aware of energy use the household is.  

Why is it important to know your energy usage?     

It is useful to be aware of what you use, as you can then track it over time and know whether you are saving energy or using more. Most people are interested to know where their usage fits on the spectrum i.e. very low or low or medium or high or very high?

Finding out your usage is a good first step in trying to save energy. First, consider your home and household circumstances (property, people and lifestyle factors). What would you expect your usage to be? E.g. I am a single man in a small flat, I go to work full time and am also out many evenings. I might expect my electricity usage to be low and my gas usage to be very low.    

So how does your actual usage compare with what you would expect? If you are using more than you should be, is that down to electricity, gas or both? You can then go through a list of energy saving tips or get energy saving advice from someone like me (I am free!) and implement the tips relevant to you and start saving energy and reducing your carbon footprint. 

But energy saving will appear a lot in later instalments ………… so watch this space for monthly updates!