Parents use more energy than kids at half term
British children will spend over half their waking hours watching TV, playing games consoles and using beautifying electronics such as hair straighteners during next week’s half term holiday – despite this, statistics show that it is their parents who end up consuming more energy.
In research published by npower, parents reported that their children will spend an additional four hours watching TV, the same time again playing games consoles, and a staggering 2.5 hours blow drying and straightening their hair!
However, compared to their parents, kids’ energy consumption is modest. Mums and Dads will use a staggering three times as much energy as their offspring during the week, as they tackle an additional four loads of washing, the cooking of 11 extra meals, run the dishwasher a further three times, and keep the lights and heating on for 13 hours longer than during term time.
Kevin Peake, marketing director at npower, said: “It’s often the case that parents berate their children for the energy they use, without being aware of the amount they are consuming themselves. That’s why we’ve launched a special offer this half term; any npower customer signing up for paperless billing will receive a free home electricity monitor.
“It’s an easy way to see how much electricity you – or your children - are using, as you use it. You might be surprised to see that your dishwasher in fact uses more energy than the average games console – something not to let on to the kids when trying to get them to help out with the chores!”
An electricity monitor is a useful way to track a home’s energy usage and helps to highlight which appliances are wasteful and inefficient. It’s also a great way to help educate the rest of the family on energy saving habits, helping to keep bills down.
Over the past 12 months, more than 176,000 npower customers have received a home electricity monitor, and the results have shown that household energy consumption drops by between five and 15 per cent in the first year of use.
As well as a free electricity monitor, the other benefits of signing up to paperless billing with npower include:
An energy tracker – to record your electricity use over time, so you stay in control
Smart priority queue – for customers who want to hear first about the latest Smart Meter information
Meter read reminders – for customers who don’t like estimated bills
Paperless billing – a more convenient way to manage your account
Secure online payments
Remember me – your details are stored online making life easier every time you get in touch
Once ordered, monitors will take up to six weeks to arrive. The offer is subject to availability so npower is encouraging its customers to sign up for paperless billing now. For more information, visit npower.com/smartpower.
