Latest results from the Energy Savings Trust (EST) reveal that consumers are unwilling to switch or save on energy because they can’t understand their energy bills.
Surprisingly under 35s are the least au fait with energy terminology and pricing as 60% admit they didn’t know that energy was measured in Kilowatt hours.
Over 55s pip them with their knowledge with 84% of them able to identify the measurement of energy. Only 15% however claim to understand their energy bills fully.
EST’s chief executive Philip Sellwood said:
“Understanding your bill and how energy is used is vital to reducing overall domestic consumption. We have found a consistent difference in understanding of energy issues between age groups, one that is stronger than when we looked at this by gender or social background.”
Whether they understand their bills fully or not, it’s clear that the older generation are more energy efficient being more conscious about their usage. Younger consumers were less aware of their usage and cost cutting tips such as only boiling the right amount of water required for a cup of tea rather than a whole kettle.
Education is perhaps required then for these younger customers to help them cut their costs and save energy.
But will this help? We’re not convinced.
We feel that younger consumers are more apathetic with many admitting that they weren’t concerned about energy efficiency due to renting their properties.
They even explained that they would use a smart meter just to try it out rather than being invested in its potential benefits.
While we could impress upon the government to encourage more literacy in energy matters, we don’t think it would make a huge difference to the mindset of the younger consumers.
Perhaps if we told them how many extra Jägermeisters they could buy if they switch off the lights and take things off standby, we may have some luck…
If however, you like advice on energy efficiency or savings on your business energy bills, give us a call at Business Juice on 0800 051 5770.