Britain's £64 million air con energy bill and £2 million for fans as late heatwave hits
Households with air conditioning units could spend £64 million on energy this week as a heatwave hits the back-to-school period[1]
People using desktop fans will spend more than £2 million this week as the summer finally arrives[2]
Homes with air con units could save nearly £51 a week by using a desktop fan instead[3]
Uswitch.com calculates the cost of keeping cool, and offers hacks on how to handle the heatwave without increasing your bill.
The two million UK households with an air conditioning unit face an extra energy bill of more than £64 million this week as a late summer heatwave strikes[1] – with Brits set to spend over £2 million a week using desktop fans to keep cool[2], according to Uswitch.com, the comparison and switching service.
For the almost four million households that use desktop fans, it costs 7p a week to run one for an hour a day, and 66p during hotter weeks when they are used nine hours a day[2].
Of the two million with air con, over 840,000 households have built-in units that can consume up to 2.7kW[4]. In a typical week, households use their units for almost three hours, but when temperatures are high, they use them for four hours 18 minutes on average during the day and four hours 48 minutes at night, sending the cost soaring from £2.43 a week to £51.60 a week[5].
Another one million homes have portable air conditioning units that use 1kW of power[4], using them for almost two hours a week at a cost of 60p. During hot spells, this bill rises to £19.11 a week.
These households could save significant sums by using a desktop fan which uses 35W on average, just 1% of the power used by built-in air conditioning units, dramatically cutting energy bills. This means that air con users who switch to a desktop fan could reduce their energy bill by 99% — saving themselves £50.93 a week[3].
| Device | Power | 9.1 hours a day for seven days | 24 hours a day for seven days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Handheld fan | 3W | £0.06 | £0.15 |
| Desktop fan | 35W | £0.67 | £1.76 |
| Pedestal fan | 60W | £1.15 | £3.02 |
| Air cooler | 75W | £1.43 | £3.78 |
| Portable air con unit | 1kW | £19.11 | £50.40 |
| Built-in air con unit | 2.7kW | £51.60 | £136.08 |
Uswitch.com is offering tips and tricks for staying cool and saving energy.
Uswitch’s five tips for keeping cool
Create an even cooler fan breeze: Place a bowl of ice cubes in front of an electric fan to lower the temperature of the air being blown around the room.
Close the curtains: Keep your curtains (and windows!) shut during the day. It may be tempting to let the light in, but the sunshine and warm air will heat the room, turning your home into a greenhouse. Open them back up again when the sun goes down and the outside air is cooler.
Unplug the tech: The gadgets plugged in your home produce heat, including those that are on standby or left charging. Unplug them when you are not using them to keep the room cool.
Take advantage of the daylight: Switch the lights off during the day. Lightbulbs release heat causing a room to get warmer, so turning them off or switching to LED bulbs that give off less heat can help reduce the overall temperature. With the sun setting late in the evening during summer you can keep the lights off for longer and therefore keep the room cooler.
Use a hot water bottle: You don’t have to use a hot water bottle just to keep warm. Instead, you can fill it with cold water to keep you cool during the night.
Ben Gallizzi, energy expert at Uswitch.com, comments: “After a wet, cold summer, it’s just our luck that a heatwave arrives as kids are going back to school.
“With temperatures set to hit 30°C this week, energy costs can add up when trying to stay cool in a heatwave, especially if your air conditioning unit is running around the clock.
“Most people don’t need to rely on energy-guzzling gadgets to keep cool as there are a few simple tricks you can use to keep the temperature down inside.
“Keeping your curtains closed during the day will stop sunlight from warming up your home, while filling a hot water bottle with cold water can help keep you cool.”
Track your energy usage with Utrack by Uswitch here.
Notes
1. 1.1 million households (See Note 6) own portable air con units with a typical power rating of 1kW. Running one for 9.1 hours a day for a week costs 1kW x 7 days x 9.1 hours = 63.7kWh of energy. At current electricity unit rates of £0.30/kWh this equals £0.30 x 63.7kWh = £19.11 a week. For 1.1 million households this equals 1.1 million x £19.11 = £21 million a week. 843,000 households own built-in air con units with a typical power rating of 2.7kW. Running one for 9.1 hours a day for a week costs 2.7kW x 7 days x 9.1 hours = 171.99kWh of energy. At current electricity unit rates of £0.30/kWh this equals £0.33 x 171.99kWh = £51.60 a week. For 843,000 households this equals 843,000 x £56.76 = £43.5 million a week. Total weekly air con bill is £43.5 million + £21 million = £64.5 million.
2. 3.9 million households (See Note 6) own desktop fans with a typical power rating of 35W. Running one for 9.1 hours a day for a week costs 0.035kW x 7 days x 9.1 hours = 2.23kWh of energy. At current electricity unit rates of £0.30/kWh this equals £0.30 x 2.23kWh = 67p a week. For 3.9 million households this equals 3.9 million x £0.67 = £2.6 million a week.
3. Weekly cost of built-in air con unit is £51.60. £51.60 - £0.67 = £50.93.
4. Research conducted online by Opinium, 29th April to 3rd May 2022, among 2,000 UK residents, weighted to be nationally representative. Respondents were asked, ‘Which of the following do you have?’ 3% said built-in air con system. 3% of 28.1 million UK households = 843,000 households. 14% said desktop fan = 3.9 million households. 4% said portable air con unit = 1.1 million households.
5. Opinium surveyed a sample of 2,001 UK adults from the 9th to 11th June 2020. Results were weighted to reflect a nationally representative criteria. Average air con owner uses the device for 4.3 hours a day and 4.8 hours a night = 9.1 hours.
About Uswitch
Uswitch is one of the UK’s top comparison websites for home services switching, including energy, broadband and mobiles.
More people go to Uswitch to switch their energy, broadband and mobile than any other site, and we have saved consumers over £2.7 billion off their bills since we launched in September 2000.
Free mobile app Utrack also helps households manage their home energy usage and make potential savings.
Uswitch is part of RVU, a group of online brands with a mission to empower consumers to make more confident home services, insurance and financial decisions.