3.1.17

Calculating Fuel Bills

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Calculating Fuel Bills

Electrical appliances are often on for long periods of time. So fuel bills are calculated over hours and use the unit kilowatt hour [kWh] for the amount of energy the appliances have used. These units are then used to work out the cost of your electricity bill.

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Converting seconds to minutes

  • There are 60 seconds in one minute. So in two minutes, there will be 120 seconds.
  • In one hour there are 60 minutes.
  • To work out the number of seconds in one hour:
    • 60 minutes × 60 seconds = 3,600 seconds.
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Fuel bill calculation

  • The power rating on fuel bills is calculated in kilowatts (kW)
  • The fuel bill is calculated over hours.
  • Energy transferred is measured in kilowatt hours [kWh].
  • This is called units on the fuel bill.
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Calculating a fuel bill

  • To work out the number of units used:
    • Units = power × time.
  • You can then work out the cost of the bill by units × cost per unit.
  • If a bill payer used 100kWh over three months, and the cost was 5p per unit, the bill would total £5.
    • 100 × £0.05 = £5.
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Payback time

  • You may wish to install features to your house to reduce the cost of your fuel bill.
    • These features will reduce the amount of energy you use.
  • Once installed, you can work out the payback time of the feature.
  • This is calculated by adding the total cost of the feature ÷ how much money it saves per year.
    • Triple glazing could cost £10,000 and you know it saves £200 per year.
    • The payback time for triple glazing is 10000 ÷ 200 = 50 yrs.

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