Do people think it's time to stop quoting average in £'s?

LindsayT

As the title says, is it time to stop quoting an average of what energy bills will be in pounds?
All households are different, so not average and I think it's just scaring people.

Alter_ego

I'd prefer Kwh,But what about the simple folk?

michaels

Apparently from the start unit prices and percent changes have been too complicated for 'us' to understand.

pochase

You will always find that people post their guesswork within a few hours after a new prediction.

The press loves the single figure and the single percentage, sometimes I believe they don't even understand that it is not just one figure themselves. But one reason is that many don't really understand how energy contracts work. 

People who are interested will end up in forum like this.

SAC2334

Yes.. Get the public aware of what a kilowatt is and how much an hour it costs to use one .Only quote any rises or falls purely in pence per kwh . 
Thinking about it though this way is just as scary as the average families bills.. Its scaring me this winter with the knowledge of 45 p kwh electric and 14 p /kwh gas 

Next step in the education of the public is how many of these things are used in an hours use of any electrical  appliance. 

[Deleted User]

SAC2334 said:

Next step in the education of the public is how many of these things are used in an hours use of any electrical  appliance. 

That would be extremely difficult to do as the hourly usage for a gas boiler, for example, will depend on such things as the size of the boiler: its modulation ratio; the temperature in the home; the temperature outside; the thermostat setting; the boiler's efficiency; boiler flow temperature; how long it is on etc.

Clearly, the kWh an oven uses in a baking session will depend on the temperature set and how long it is on. Cooking a fruit cake is going to use many more kWh than a few scones. Even TV energy usage is difficult to gauge as the power required increases/decreases as screen brightness changes.

Alnat1

So don't watch in HD, it's more expensive!!!

If only my husband would listen......

sienew

LindsayT said:

As the title says, is it time to stop quoting an average of what energy bills will be in pounds?
All households are different, so not average and I think it's just scaring people.

It should be quoted as the % increase, £ average and price per kWh. 90% of the population don't understand their usage in kWh (or simply don't want to).

MisterMotivated

Yes, I absolutely do! I have a spreadsheet that tracks my energy usage and calculates the cost.  This morning, I created a variation of it to compare costs based on the latest fixed deal rates I've been offered by my supplier.  However, I've spent the past hour trying to find an estimate for the October rise per kWh / standing charge. 

Martin says consider fixing if you find a deal that is no more than 95% higher than the current cap.  My new deal works about about 75-85% more based on my annual usage.  However, this is because the new deal actually has a lower standing charge, but the energy rates are still over 100% more than current, so if my usage increases, it could quickly go over the threshold for being a worthwhile switch.

I use substantially less than the average household throughout the year (my DD went up in April from £48 to £70/month), so the quotes of £4,400 per year bills are meaningless to me.

MattMattMattUK

The information is available for any who want it, it is just that most people do not want more information, they want the easy headline, even if it is not accurate. The problem is the population, not the data. 

k_man

Alnat1 said:

So don't watch in HD, it's more expensive!!!

If only my husband would listen......

For clarity, HD does not use more energy than SD.
4k with HDR, may do, but depending on the settings, may actually use less.

ETA: just trying avoid lots of unhappy people suffering with low quality TV pictures for no benefit!