Row.co.uk Blog

Over the last few years, there has been a huge rise in the ownership of tablets and smartphones. This has helped drive a surge in a demand for electricity, and it’s costing the equivalent of £33 per year for each household in the UK, new research has shown.

 

Data analysis commissioned by the team here at Row.co.uk has revealed that the demand for power from chargers has doubled since 2000. This rise coincides with the growth of mobile phones, and more recently, smartphones and tablets.

 

To find this figure we analysed data released by the Department of Energy, divided by the 26.7 million households in the UK.

 

By 2005 82%[1] of UK adults owned a mobile phone.  Today, 9 out of 10 adults in the UK own a mobile and two thirds of them have more power-hungry smartphones, according to Ofcom, the communications regulator.[2]

 

The launch of the iPad in 2010 led to an appetite for tablets and further increased the demand for power to charge devices.  In 2011, just 2% of households owned a tablet. It’s now 54% of homes[3] – that’s nearly 15 million tablets.

 

Our analysis of figures from the Department of Energy[4] shows that UK households now use the same amount of power to charge up these gadgets at home as the power needed for all laptop and desktop computers, and printers. 

 

Put another way, consumption by all the chargers across the UK is equivalent to the total electricity consumption for a year for the cities of Birmingham and Bradford combined.[5]

 

The total bill of £903 million makes charging gadgets one of the biggest areas of electricity consumption for household appliances.  Britain only spends more on running its TVs, fridges and washing machines.

 

Our team of researchers calculated that the average annual cost per charger is just over £4 and with 200 million chargers across the UK, that’s 8 per household, this cost is only going to increase.

 

While this energy consumption is being offset by reduced consumption in other areas, such as more energy efficient home appliances, it’s leading to a multi-million-pound electricity bill for the consumer and an area of new demand for power from the National Grid.

 

Some of that power may be consumed by leaving mobile phones and tablets plugged in when they are fully charged. Tests carried out by researchers from the Berkley Lab at the University of California found that a fully charged phone continued to draw 66% of the power it consumed while charging. [6]

 

We all plug our gadgets in on a daily basis with little thought of the cost. Our analysis reveals for the first time how much Britain is paying for keeping our phones and tablets powered up.  It also shows how lifestyle changes affect the way we consume electricity and the amount we need to power our lives.

*The information in this blog is designed to provide helpful information on the subjects discussed. Please seek a professional for expert advice as we can not be held responsible for any damages or negative consequences upon following this information.

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What is Classed as a Home Emergency?

Row.co.uk Blog

What is Classed as a Home Emergency?

When something goes wrong in your home, we all naturally treat it as a high priority and seek a solution as quickly as possible. But for insurance purposes, when does a problem become a crisis? Which is as much as to say - when can we make a claim under home emergency cover?


Let’s start by considering the differences between the main types of insurance policy you can get for your home. Buildings insurance protects you for damage to the actual structure of your home. So if you had roof tiles blown off in high winds, or a burst pipe upstairs which led to flood damaged to a ceiling, you could claim for repairs on your buildings insurance.


Home contents insurance, on the other hand, covers you for the possessions you have in the property, including free-standing appliances and furniture. The purpose of home contents insurance is to protect you from catastrophic losses arising from things like fire, flood and theft. The focus is on covering the replacement value of your possessions.


What neither home contents or buildings insurance cover is the cost of urgent repairs - the sort of things that you need to get fixed asap to prevent further damage or loss. This is where a home emergency policy come in.

Claiming on home emergency cover

So how does home emergency insurance work, and what does it protect you for? Home emergency cover can be seen as a two-in-one service, providing both financial protection and emergency call-outs and repairs. When you sign up for home emergency insurance, you will be given a 24-hour hotline number to call whenever you face a crisis situation in your home.


Calling the hotline will trigger a rapid response service for someone to come and sort out your problem, all paid for under the terms of your insurance.


In terms of the sort of things home emergency cover protects you for, it is more or less anything that cannot wait to be fixed. So, for example, if your boiler breaks down leaving you without hot water and heating, a pipe bursts after a deep freeze or you have severe leaks caused by plumbing problems.


Similarly, broken windows and damaged roofs can be counted as urgent repairs if there is a need to secure your home or a risk of flooding or water damage. You can also make claims on home emergency cover if your home security is compromised by doors or locks being broken, or if you are locked out of your home and need to replace locks to get in.


Other situations where home emergency insurance can be used include pest control, such an infestations of fleas, wasps, mice and so on where a rapid solution is required for your health and comfort. Also, any outages to your electricity, gas or water supply can be claimed as emergency circumstances, on the grounds that they deprive you of sources of heat, light and the ability to cook.


Click here to find out more about home emergency insurance offered by Row.co.uk, or why not get an instant quote today.  

*The information in this blog is designed to provide helpful information on the subjects discussed. Please seek a professional for expert advice as we can not be held responsible for any damages or negative consequences upon following this information.

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