Home heating bills have been a major contributor to the current cost-of-living crisis and with the winter months upon us, the situation is likely to get worse. Couples and families will be turning up the thermostats as ice and snow creep in and the days turn colder. An average household in 2018 spent just over £1200 per year on energy. This figure has, for many, almost doubled.
Many factors contribute to the cost of heating a property. Most importantly, the size will determine how much energy you use. Other contributing elements include the cost of gas or heating oil which fluctuates on a day-to-day basis as well as the efficiency of the property’s heating system and the type of insulation. Individual circumstances too will reflect how much energy is used. If you work from home, you may find you are using more energy during the day, or you’re lighting your gas fire, and you may be using the microwave or kettle more frequently. Stay-at-home parents with children may require more heating during the day, whereas an empty house will only be heated at night.
Knowing how much energy your property uses is useful. This information can be found in your energy bill. The bill will show kilowatt hours used (kWh), the price per kilowatt hour and the most up-to-date meter reading. To work out the amount of energy used in one week, simply read the meter, note down what has been used and check again the same time the following week. A Smart Meter will send an accurate figure to your energy supplier, as this device notes your usage in real-time.
Despite the downturn in the economy, there is still optimism and homeowners are choosing to move, with the property market slowing but still active. If you are on the move or changing ownership and need to understand transfer of equity costs, there are professionals who will be able to assist, such as Sam Conveyancing. A transfer of equity is when a homeowner adds or removes names from the title deeds. This may be required, for example, when an ex-partner should no longer be on the paperwork.
According to The Express a campaign to encourage people to turn down their heating to save cash and energy is to be launched before Christmas. If you want to figure out how much energy a particular appliance uses each day, then the method is simple. All you must do is multiply the wattage of the appliance by the number of hours it is in use.
A 150W television that is in use for five hours each day, will consume 750 watt-hours per day. The energy bill will outline costs in kilowatts, so you take the 750 figure and divide it by 1,000, because one kilowatt is the same as 1,000 watts. Therefore 750 watt-hours per day divided by 1000 equals 0.75 kWh per day. If you want to find out how much energy is used in one month, just multiply by 365 and divide by 12.