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The Ultimate Solution For Decreasing Heating Bills
Why heat the whole house when you can just heat the human?
Did you know that by reducing your home thermostat by just 2°C and using hot water bottles instead you can save £220+ over the winter period?
Moreover, this will save more than half a tonne of CO2 each year – that equates to half of a 500m3 hot air balloon and the equivalent emissions of charging more than 80,000 smartphones each year.
Calculations
In the calculations and explanations below we are demonstrating the financial and emissions savings by decreasing your thermostat by 2°C and instead using the more affordable and planet friendly solution of a hot water bottle.
UK Average Household Energy Use
According to Ofgem (Office of Gas and Electricity Markets) the average British household of 2.4 people uses 2,900 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity and 12,000 kWh[2] of gas each year, costing on average a total of £1970.57.[3]
UK Central Domestic Heating Snapshot
|
Energy Type |
% Of Households |
|
Gas |
78% |
|
Electric (storage) |
5% |
|
Oil (central heating) |
5% |
|
Other |
12% |
|
Energy Type |
Current Average Cost per Kwh |
KgCO2e per kWh |
|
Gas |
7.2p |
0.215 |
|
Electric (storage) |
27.1p |
0.291 |
|
Oil (central heating) |
10.4p |
0.298 |
Savings from Using Less Central Heating
For estimated savings, we have taken data from a UK government report, rather fittingly titled ‘How much energy could be saved by making small changes to everyday household behaviours’ – published by the UK Department of Energy & Climate Change. [6]
We have taken the “most likely” estimated energy saving of 3,090 kWh/y from the report and have detailed below the cost and emission savings for each heating source.
|
Energy Type |
£ Saving Per Year From 20°C to 18°C |
Tonnes of CO2 Saving |
|
Gas |
£222.48 |
0.6 |
|
Electric (storage) |
£837.39 |
0.9 |
|
Oil (central heating) |
£321 |
0.92 |
As you can see above for the average household the saving will be £220+ a year or more specifically over the winter period, when central heating is used.
Does a kettle not use energy too?
Yes, but a lot less than you would use by turning on/up your central heating. Kettles are powered by electricity and so as our renewable energy facilitation increases kettles will be powered more and more by “clean” energy.
Now let’s look at the calculations/data.
- The average 2-litre kettle has a power rating of 3 kilowatts per hour (kWh)
- Therefore, boiling a kettle for an average of 4 minutes uses around 0.225kWh.
- This equates to a financial cost of £0.06p to boil a 2-litre kettle and around £0.04p to fill 2/3 of a 2-litre kettle, the amount needed for a 2-litre hot water bottle.
- Therefore, if you used a hot water bottle 150 times in a year it would cost just £6 in electricity and only emit around 15.7kg of CO2.[8]
So, while not over filling kettles is a good goal, the average person can save much more money and emissions by using kettle powered hot water, rather than keeping their central heating on higher and for longer periods.
If something here does not seem to be right or not make sense, please email us at cosyteam@cosypanda.com
Thanks for reading,
Freddie