Too Cool For School: How to save energy with kids home for the summer holidays
With schools breaking up this week, parents will be looking for ways to keep energy costs down as children stay home for the school holidays.
The extra hours of television and playing on games consoles can add up, and an extra meal to cook every week day can lead to higher energy costs for ovens and air fryers.
Uswitch.com, the comparison and switching service, is offering households tips on how to keep energy bills down.
Will Owen, energy expert at Uswitch.com, comments: “Children may be getting a much-needed rest over the coming weeks, but gadgets, cookers, air con units and showers are likely to be working overtime for the school holidays.
“Energy costs are lower than this time last year, but it’s easy for the bills to creep up as the laundry piles up, and the television seems to stay on for 24 hours a day.
“There are a few steps you can take to keep bills down, such as opting for giving the children a sandwich instead of a cooked meal to cut your energy bill.
“With extra snacks and changes of clothes, make sure appliances like the dishwasher and washing machine are full before running a load, and use the eco-mode wherever possible.
“You can’t always tell if changing your habits is making a difference until you see your bill – unless you track your usage. The Utrack by Uswitch app connects to a smart meter and can show you the impact on bills with hourly graphs, comparing gas and electricity use by day, week, month and year.”
Top tips for keeping school holiday energy bills down
Swap the oven for the air fryer: Cooking an extra five hot meals in the oven each week could add 70p to energy costs, or a total of £4.20 over the course of the summer holidays. If a simple sandwich doesn’t satisfy hungry tummies, try a recipe using an air fryer, which will typically use half as much electricity as an oven[1].
Doing the dishes: With children at home for an extra meal a day — not to mention raiding the fridge for snacks — you may find the dirty dishes start to pile up. Using a dishwasher is more energy efficient than doing it by hand, but make sure the machine is full before you put a wash on. An extra two dishwasher loads a week could cost about 35p, which adds up to £2.10 over the course of six weeks, so always use the eco-mode where possible[2].
Don’t let laundry pile up: Instead of wearing school uniforms all week, children will likely be changing outfits every day — or more, if they’re prone to getting mucky. One additional load of washing a week will cost 16p in energy, so aim for a full load before running a wash[3]. Using the eco settings on the washing machine and choosing a lower temperature will also help to save energy.
Use outdoor space to cut your laundry bill: If you have a garden or balcony, you can make use of the warmer weather by hanging clothes outside to dry. Tumble dryers are one of the most expensive household appliances, so hanging up the washing outside instead could save people £21 over the warmest months of the year[4].
Watch out for the box: The television will be working overtime in many households as kids entertain themselves. An extra 18 hours of TV a week can cost 40p in electricity, so make sure to turn off if no one is watching[5]. Using a games console for ten hours a week will cost 45p, so keep an eye on long gaming sessions!
Flick that switch: Kids are notorious for leaving lights and televisions on in empty rooms and keeping gadgets plugged in when they’re fully charged. Encourage them to get into good habits with turning off lights and unused devices, and unplug mobile phones when they’re charged.
Keep showers short: Although some families might struggle to get their soap-dodging kids to shower during the holidays, teenagers may be more likely to take their time pampering themselves between socialising and sports. A typical 7.5kW electric shower costs almost 28p to use just for ten minutes, so encouraging the kids to reduce the time spent under the water to four minutes will save 11p each time[6].
To help households understand and adapt their energy use, Uswitch.com recommends customers use its free mobile app Utrack, which lets users see how much power appliances are using in real time.
To find out how much energy you’re using, download the Utrack by Uswitch app and connect your smart meter.
Notes
1. Using an oven with a power rating of 0.63kWh electricity five times a week costs: 0.63kWh x five x £0.2236 per kWh = £0.70 a week.
2. Two loads of a typical dishwasher using 0.79kWh per cycle costs 35p
3. A typical washing machine using 0.712kWh per cycle costs 16p.
4. Average tumble dryer uses 3kWh per cycle. One cycle x £0.2236/kWh = £0.67. Swapping using a tumble dryer for hanging clothes outside twice a week for 16 weeks = saving of £21.47.
5. Ofcom estimates that people watched 6.42 hours a day of television and streaming services in lockdown. Assuming that children sleep for ten hours a night, this is 0.46 hours of television per waking hour. If they leave home for eight hours to attend school, they will watch 8 x 0.46 = 3.67 fewer hours of television per school day. 3.67 x 5 = 18.34 hours a week. Assuming a 0.097W television and £0.2236 per kWh, this adds up to 18.34 x 0.097 x 0.2236 = £0.40 a week.
6. A 7.5kW shower used for 12 minutes five times a week would cost: 7.5kW x one hour x £0.2236 per kWh = £1.68 a week.
About Uswitch
Uswitch is one of the UK’s top comparison websites for home services switching, including energy, broadband and mobiles.
More people go to Uswitch to switch their energy, broadband and mobile than any other site, and we have saved consumers over £2.7 billion off their bills since we launched in September 2000.
Free mobile app Utrack also helps households manage their home energy usage and make potential savings.
Uswitch is part of RVU, a group of online brands with a mission to empower consumers to make more confident home services, insurance and financial decisions.