The average household will spend over £200 hosting their guests**** this Christmas – the equivalent of almost £3 billion across the nation
Keeping visitors fed and watered will cost an average of £152, meanwhile people will also fork out an extra £55 on energy bills over just three days****
Over two fifths (43%) expect to keep their heating on for longer over the Christmas period due to having guests to stay****
Charging guests’ gadgets, keeping lights on and watching the TV also add to the festive energy bill
Uswitch.com recommends people recover the cost of hosting at Christmas by switching to a cheaper energy deal – setting you up for cheaper bills come January.
People with friends and family staying with them over the festive period this year will spend over £200 on their guests, according to new data from Uswitch.com, the independent price comparison and switching site. With more than half of households (53%) expecting guests over Christmas, the cost across the country adds up to almost £3 billion.
With an extra two days off each this year (with the 23rd and 24th falling on a weekend), families and friends will have more time together in the run up to the big day, but with this extra time, comes extra cost. The study found that on average, households are expecting five guests to stay for three days over the season, meaning that the already hefty cost of Christmas will be ramped up by larger household bills.
Hosts are expecting to fork out an extra £152 to keep their guests fed and watered, and a further £55 on gas and electricity. More than two fifths of Christmas hosts (43%) are planning to keep their heating on for longer over the Christmas period to keep their guests warm and toasty, anticipating they will need to keep it on for an extra five hours. The use of more rooms in the house will also mean that more lights are switched on (35%), for an average of four extra hours.
The weighty gas and electricity bill also covers the extra energy used to cook the traditional Christmas dinner, and to boil the kettle. The average host will put the kettle on a whopping 18 times a day, brewing an average of 30 cups of tea each day over the entire festive period.
Even when guests are away for Christmas, they still want to stay connected. Hosts are expecting their guests to travel with an average of three devices per person, meaning fifteen extra gadgets to keep charged up. The bumper schedule of Christmas TV provides the perfect entertainment for guests, but this comes at a price too. One in three Christmas hosts (28%) will be keeping the television on for four and a half hours longer than they would normally, piling on pounds to bills across the country.
With forecasters predicting a particularly chilly Christmas, consumers across the country are likely to be ramping up the heating to stay toasty. Whether they are hosting guests or not, consumers could save up to £491 by spending just a few minutes comparing and switching energy deals – protecting themselves from bumper bills and recovering some of their festive expenses.
Shona Eyre, Uswitch.com energy expert, says: “Christmas is all about spending time with our loved ones, but if it’s your turn to host you might spend more than you’re expecting – and that’s before we’ve even factored in the cost of all the presents. But the next energy bill doesn’t have to be a nasty shock.
“In between all the festive fun, consumers should take ten minutes to shop around and make sure they’re on the best energy deal possible, which are often hundreds of pounds cheaper than standard variable tariffs. That’s a big enough saving to cover the cost of hosting Christmas, and maybe even a treat for yourself too.”
Uswitch’s advice for saving money on your energy bills this winter:
Switch it up: by simply switching to a better deal you could save up to £491
Read your meter: Uswitch research found more than a fifth of households don’t submit regular energy meter readings to their supplier, risking inaccurate bills. Once they provided a reading, two thirds of Brits found that they were owed £161 on average
Bleed your radiators: this releases any gas caught inside them, making them run more efficiently. You can follow our step-by-step guide here.
Switch off the tech: leaving televisions and games consoles on permanent standby costs £45-£80 a year and we waste nearly £29m per year in this country by leaving our phone chargers switched on even though we’re not charging our phones
Turn it down: around 90% of a washing machines energy expenditure is spent on heating the water, so the lower the temperature, the more money you save.
Find out how you could save over £1,000 a year with Uswitch here.
Ailene Barr
Phone: 020 3872 5610
Email: ailene.barr@uswitch.com
Twitter: @uswitchPR
Two pieces of research were carried out for the purpose of this release: The main research was carried out by Opinium between 8th and 13th December 2017 among 2,011 UK adults (18+) who are hosting guests over the Christmas period and are bill payers. For the purposes of caveat 2, research was carried out by Opinium between 7th and 9th November 2017 among 2,008 UK adults.
When asked ‘How much are you expecting to spend on food for you and your guests this Christmas?’, the average amount was £151.87. When asked ‘How much extra do you estimate your energy will cost over the Christmas period compared to a normal period of the same duration?’, the average amount was £54.95. 151.87 (cost of food) + 54.95 (anticipated extra cost of energy) = 206.82.
When asked ‘Are you hosting other people at your house over Christmas?’, 53% of respondents answered yes. There are 27.1 million households in the UK (source: ONS). 53% of 27.1 million households is 14.4 million. 14.4m x 206.82 (cost of hosting Christmas per household: £151.87 (food) + 54.95 (energy)) = 2.978 billion
When asked ‘Do you think the amount of time you keep the heating on will be affected due to having guests staying?’, 43% answered ‘Yes – I will keep it on for longer’. Of those that answered yes, the average extra time was 4.9 hours
When asked ‘How many guests will you be hosting over the Christmas period?’, the average response was 5 guests
When asked ‘In total, how many days do you predict guests will be staying in your house over the Christmas period this year?’, the average response was 3 days
When asked ‘Do you think that the amount of time you keep the lights on will be affected due to having guests staying?’, 35% answered ‘Yes – I will keep them on for longer’. Of those that said yes, the average extra time was 4.4 hours
When asked ‘On average, how many times a day do you think you will boil the kettle for the following reasons over the Christmas period?’, the average response was 6 times to make tea, 5 times to make coffee, 2 times to make other hot drinks, 3 times for cooking, 1 time to keep warm (hot water bottle etc) and 1 time for Other. Boiling the kettle 6 times to make tea x 3 days (the average duration that people will stay) = 18. Boiling the kettle six times to make tea for five guests = 30 cups of tea per day
When asked ‘On average, how many devices that need charging (e.g. smartphones, tablets, toys etc) are you expecting each guest to bring with them?’, the average response was 3. 3 x 5 (the average amount of guests is 5) = 15
When asked ‘Do you think that the amount of time you keep the TV on will be affected due to having guests staying?’, 28% answered ‘Yes – I will keep it on for longer’. Of those that said yes, the average extra time was 5 hours
Between 1 April 2017 and 30 September 2017, at least 10% of people who switched energy supplier for both gas & electricity with Uswitch saved £491 or more.
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