Caitríona Redmond: Can you guess what is Ireland’s most expensive home appliance?
Caitriona Redmond: The average person apparently only boils the kettle four times a day. I affectionately patted my beloved workhorse of a kettle, which is a vital part of my household and is used far more than average.
“Ireland’s most expensive home appliance revealed” read the email that arrived from Energia to Irish Examiner HQ last week. According to the energy supplier, it’s not the tumble dryer, rather the electric shower, that has been costing Irish households a fortune.
An email went on to explain how the calculations were arrived at, and I decided to put the calculations to the test. This was where I realised that certain assumptions had been made, such as using reasonable common usage by the average person, based upon a sample of 20 households. It’s a low sample for energy consumption that can vary wildly depending on households’ needs.
The average person apparently only boils the kettle four times a day. I affectionately patted my beloved workhorse of a kettle, which is a vital part of my household and is used far more than average. I’m certainly not ashamed to say that this house could not operate without regular cups of coffee or tea.
They go on to say that the average home uses the oven for 20 minutes a day and the iron is used for an hour. I’m laughing in my wrinkled attire while boiling the kettle too often. I’m all about balance after all.
One thing jumps out from the list of high-energy-consuming appliances: they all heat up. Generating heat in the home is the biggest energy drain, from electric showers to switching on the immersion and even using a hair dryer, everything that heats up costs households far more than running a TV for a few hours, for example.
An electric shower that both heats and pumps water is clearly the winner when it comes to the most expensive appliance in the home, if you have one. Combine an electric shower with someone who loves daily long hot showers and it’s a recipe for a sky-high energy bill.
The dose is the poison when it comes to energy bills. The longer an appliance is running the more it is going to cost over time. Go figure; the more you use your immersion or storage heaters, the more it will cost you. In our connected, social media-led society, the wifi is always on, smart speakers, phone chargers, consoles, and even smart light bulbs.
Each of these can be draining our bank account by stealth. Using appliances less will save you money, regardless of the appliance size.
An energy vampire is an appliance that drains your power in the background, needlessly, while not being in operation, appliances with red standby lights and gentle hums, even when not in use. Unplug the appliance or switch it off at source rather than plunging a wooden stake into its heart.
The moral of the story, regardless of energy provider, is to check you are on the lowest rate possible to benefit from the best savings on energy costs. Be more mindful of what you are using daily and if you have a smart meter, sign up to the ESB Networks account so that you can monitor and download your use data independently.
My most expensive appliance is going to be different to yours and I find this very handy because I can track spikes in energy usage and go around the house at night trying to find those energy vampires.
Our daily energy consumption, or usage, is multiplied by the rate on our contract and this makes up part of our energy bills. The rate is set by our suppliers and those of us in contract should be getting a reduction on the overall standard rate per kilowatt hour. That’s just a portion of the entire bill though, as we still have to pay standing charges and tax.
Right now, every single household in Ireland and the UK pays a standing charge the exact cost of which can vary from supplier to supplier, but it pays for the cost of supplying a household with energy. This money is used to for network upgrades, for example, and for meeting the aims of the Government Climate Action Plan.
Recently, the chief executive of Ofgem, the UK energy regulator in the UK, said they would be investigating whether energy bills could be linked to income in the coming months.
Ofgem proposes having a variable standing charge depending on the household income, meaning those living on less, pay less and those with more income pay more for their energy.
The cost of maintaining the energy network in Ireland is not getting any cheaper, and we already know that the aftermath of Storm Éowyn will be felt for many years to come in our bills. It’ll be interesting to see if the Commission For Regulation of Utilities (CRU) in Ireland decides to start exploring the area.
Data centres are expected to account for 27% of all electricity demand by 2028. Should those same data centres be expected to contribute an equivalent percentage of the national standing charge? That seems fair to me. What do you think?
Watch this space; this is an issue which will certainly be debated in the Oireachtas whenever the committees are finally agreed and begin to sit.
Smart plugs and timers for hard-to-reach appliances will help you save money in the long run. From seasonal string lights to switching off the tv at night, banish the red standby light from your house and only switch on a plug when needed.
Depending on special offers, a pack of four smart plugs that operate on wi-fi can be bought from as little as €30 from your local electrical shop or online .
Modern cleaning detergents and machines allow for washing clothes at lower temperatures and for less time, which saves you money on your energy bills.
Shorten drying times by running an extra spin cycle on the washing machine before either hanging your clothes out or popping them into the tumble dryer. Less drying time means less chance of getting caught in a deluge or running up a higher energy bill.
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