Average usage my **** said Jim Royle

Mstty

Anyone else fed up with average usage of 12000 kWh gas and 2900 kWh electricity......very few comply to this but there is another measure which I prefer from Ofgems analysis.

I really do like Archetype 9 which represents 8.2 million households (34%) these houses use 16386 kWh gas and 3588 kWh electricity which to be honest sounds a lot more like the averages people turn up here with and are told they are high users.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/docs/2013/06/beyond-average-consumption-summary-doc_updated-june13_0.pdf

So just to do the quick calculation on the rates confirmed by the Government  for the price cap freeze of 34p kWh electricity and 10.3p kWh gas with 48p and 28p SC respectively archetype 9 comes out at roughly £3170 for the year or £264 per month on a fixed DD. That's a more realistic figure for people to expect for the next 2 years.

Anyway hope the pdf helps as it really does break down many groups of people/incomes/geography and size of family.

Sources

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-bills-support/energy-bills-support-factsheet-8-september-2022

MWT

Mstty said:

I really do like Archetype 9 which represents 8.2 million households (34%) these houses use 16386 kWh gas and 3588 kWh electricity which to be honest sounds a lot more like the averages people turn up here with and are told they are high users.

If I swap 4,000kWh of gas for an extra 1300kWh of electricity we'd be pretty close as well (ignoring EV charging).

Xbigman

The lowest archetype on there is double my usage. 


Darren

sienew

I saw a while ago that Ofgem suggested that the price cap is roughly 3 people in a 3 bedroom semi. My household is exactly that and my usage is about 10% lower than average. My house is fairly badly insulated, draughty and I live in the north. Two of the three adults work from home. The heating is fairly consistently on 18-20 degrees during the colder months.

Mstty

Xbigman said:

The lowest archetype on there is double my usage. 


Darren

Well you are a money saving whizz, I think for regulars here they do have their saving minds switched on. We don't fit into any of the architypes now we have started our energy reduction exercise 

arnoldy

In this instance it may be more appropriate to also have the median as well as the average.

But the purpose of the cap figures is illustrative, it is not divorced from individual responsibility and behaviours. E.G. Set the thermostat to 21C and have it on for more than 4 hours a day, use dishwasher or tumble dryer a lot & you probably won't meet the illustrative example. It's not rocket science.

Mstty

arnoldy said:

In this instance it may be more appropriate to also have the median as well as the average.

But the purpose of the cap figures is illustrative, it is not divorced from individual responsibility and behaviours. E.G. Set the thermostat to 21C and have it on for more than 4 hours a day, use dishwasher or tumble dryer a lot & you probably won't meet the illustrative example. It's not rocket science.

Ah but there you have it, you have deemed anyone that doesn't understand usage and kWh as sub par intelligence with the slur.

"It's not rocket science" is a very demeaning term and unfortunately this board proves day in day out...many do not get it. Have you read the calorific calculation on bills, most think...sod that.

Most will and do think the average is them, whatever they are doing 12000/2900. Another shock coming even with the watered down prices from October 1st.

Xbigman

Mstty said:

Xbigman said:

The lowest archetype on there is double my usage. 


Darren

Well you are a money saving whizz, I think for regulars here they do have their saving minds switched on. We don't fit into any of the architypes now we have started our energy reduction exercise 

Over recent years I have been continually amazed when posters come on this board saying they are 'low users' or 'very frugal' when they clearly are not. I'm now realising that my usage is not just low, it is exceptionally low and that I live incredibly cheaply. So cheaply I fall off the bottom of government charts. This seems to be because I am prepared to be inconvenienced more than others. The vast majority of people, maybe 99%, live completely convenience based life styles. A car is an essential, a dishwasher is an essential, a tumble drier is an essential. Then there are the things that, whilst not essential are so useful they are worth having, like a freezer. The number of people I know with either a fridge freezer and a freezer or a gigantic freezer is frightening. Its everybody. I've asked several how many kwh their FF and F use each year and not one had any clue and yet they all moaned about high bills. Just what is wrong with people?



Darren 

Xbigman

Ah but there you have it, you have deemed anyone that doesn't understand usage and kWh as sub par intelligence with the slur.

"It's not rocket science" is a very demeaning term and unfortunately this board proves day in day out...many do not get it. Have you read the calorific calculation on bills, most think...sod that.

Most will and do think the average is them, whatever they are doing 12000/2900. Another shock coming even with the watered down prices from October 1st.

The problem stems from the government and is perpetuated by the press. The Government and regulators treat everyone like the lowest common denominator. People who are either too stupid or too lazy to work anything out. The ones I feel sorry for are the people who want to understand but are met with a wall of dumbed down misinformation. Only yesterday there was a poster saying they were on a fix lower than the Truss cap when in fact they were paying (IIRC) 67p a kwh. Clearly they thought the cap was not on the unit rate but was a headline £2,500. Why wouldn't they? That figure is plastered everywhere. 
"Its not rocket science" is correct, its not. But its the Government, regulators and the Press who are to blame and not the individuals that don't understand what is happening. 


Darren

kuratowski

Mstty said:

I really do like Archetype 9 which represents 8.2 million households (34%) these houses use 16386 kWh gas and 3588 kWh electricity which to be honest sounds a lot more like the averages people turn up here with and are told they are high users.

Understand where you are coming from, but let's not forget the selection bias here: people turning up on these boards and posting about how high their bills are much more likely to be the higher users.

Mstty

Couldn't agree more, however it took some time for us to become enlightened.

Started when I joined this forum because up until then energy was cheap and was less than 1% of household take home. Then Symbio went bust and the whole energy market changed and we changed with it to lessen the effects.

I do think this price cap freeze of £2500 is in some way protecting people from educating themselves to use less energy once again.