Forget the ‘southern softy’ tag - the Welsh and Northern Irish turn on their heating first… while the Brits who resist the cold the most come from Scotland the Brrrr-ave
London, 30.11.2023 - Forget the myth of so-called ‘southern softies’ - it is the Welsh and the Northern Irish who are the first to turn on their heating when temperatures begin to dip, a new study by home energy management company tado° has revealed.
Data from 131,363 homes across the UK showed that on average people turned on their heating when the outside temperature fell to 12.9°C but there were some surprising variations across the regions [1].
Unsurprisingly, the Scots can claim to be the hardiest as they hold out until it is 11.9°C outside, followed by those living in the East and South-East of England at 12.5° and 12.8° respectively.
And at the other end of the temperature scale, it is the Northern Irish and the Welsh who are the first to turn on their home heating when the mercury only fell to 13.7° and 13.6° respectively.
Christian Deilmann, tado°’s Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder, said: “It isn’t too much of a surprise that it really is a case of Scotland the Brrrr-ave but it is interesting to see the Northern Irish and the Welsh are the first to switch on their heating given their geographical locations.
“But our study for 2023 also seemingly adds weight to other data that Brits are being more careful about when they turn on their heating because of the huge rises in energy prices. We conducted a similar study in 2019 and the UK average then was 13.4° as opposed to 12.9° this year. In Scotland it was 12.6° in 2019 and Wales it was a comparatively balmy 14.2°.
“Last year’s price shocks put household bills at the front of people’s minds and tado° customers told us that was the main reason they were more careful about managing their energy usage. You may have hoped it was all over but unfortunately energy prices remain very high and so it is never too late to make your house energy smart and start saving money. tado°s smart thermostats pay for themselves within months.”
A separate study of tado° customers showed four out of five of them turned down their thermostats last winter, backing up findings by the UK’s watchdog Ofgem that showed households cut both their gas and electricity consumption because of energy bills specifically and the cost-of-living crisis generally [2].
Energy bills are set to go up again in January with the rise in the UK price cap of 5 per cent, meaning the strain on family budgets is far from over.
Volatile energy prices mean smart heating solutions such as tado°’s Smart Thermostats and Smart Radiator Thermostats give households the ability to make savings of 22 per cent on average - equating to an estimated £184[3] for a typical dual fuel household under the January price cap - through features such as geofencing, which automatically turns off the heating when nobody is home. Other smart features include Open Window Detection and Smart Schedules, meaning that energy usage in the home is never wasted.
tado°’s Smart Thermostats can be installed by anyone at home, guided by a step-by-step online manual in less than 30 minutes. With wired and wireless options, smart thermostats can be installed in over 95% of homes across Europe. Any radiator with an existing thermostatic radiator valve can be upgraded to a smart energy saving radiator by simply screwing in a new Smart Radiator Thermostat from tado°.
Citations
[1] tado° conducted a study of 131,363 homes across the United Kingdom between September 1, 2023 and October 31, 2023. The average results for all areas are: The UK Whole UK 12.87°C; Scotland 11.91°C; East of England 12.54°C; South East England 12.77°C; West Midlands 12.84°C; North East England 12.88°C; London 12.90°C; East Midlands 13.00°C; South West England 13.11°C; Yorkshire and the Humber 13.14°C; North West England 13.23°C; Wales 13.55°C; and Northern Ireland 13.66°C.
[2] Ofgem report: Decision for Typical Domestic Consumption Values 2023
[3] This is based on Ofgem's new typical consumption at 11,500kWh for an average UK home, 98 per cent gas consumption for heating and the January price cap price of 7.42p per kWH for gas. It doesn't take into account the standing charge. tado° average customer saves 22% on heating costs is based on data from 400,000 users between 2013 and 2022.