Which Businesses Burn The Most Power?

The cost of energy is never far from the headlines and with prices set to soar this winter, it may surprise you to learn which sectors will be hit the hardest. In this blog, we’ve tallied up the kWh (kilowatt hour measure of power usage) across a variety of common UK businesses.

Whilst consumption can vary vastly from sector to sector it won’t come as much of a shock that the transport and the manufacturing industry such as textile production use a lot of power, but how do some of our most common businesses fare?

1) Supermarkets –

Unsurprisingly, large supermarkets use on average 1130000 kwh a year, this is down to the large amount of power needed to keep refrigerators cold, freezers frozen, large lighting units and with amenities usually in store like a bakers.

2) Hotels –

Especially large hotels that have facilities like restaurants on site or even pools or saunas will find themselves raking up about 250,000 kwh a year.

3) 24 Hour Gyms/Leisure Centres –

Gym equipment, lighting, showers, computers, pools and air conditioning quickly add up but even more so if they are running 24 hours a day, seven days a week. All this equates to an average of 125,000 kwh a year.

4) Restaurants –

Hard working chefs in busy kitchens plus the need for ample fridge and freezer space usually in the form of a walk-in freezer mean restaurants come out at an average of 85,000 kwh a year.

5) Small Gyms (with set opening/closing times) –

As previously mentioned gym’s consume a lot of energy however by implementing set opening hours the average goes down to 60,000 kwh a year.

6) Small Offices –

Since covid there has been a decline in large office blocks with many businesses seeing the savings of working remotely. However, there are still several small offices and even hybrid and hot desking solutions. Due to numerous computers and laptops, printers, scanners, copiers, kettles or boiling water taps, lighting and air con whilst even still being a small office set-up this average comes out at 50,000 kwh a year.

7)Hairdressers –

Standing hair dryers, curlers, straighteners, hand-held hair dryers and hot water all use power and even our small high street local hairdressers use an average of 40,000 kwh a year.

8) Clothes Stores –

Even just small high street stores can find lighting, air con/heating, tills and computers can equate to 25,000 kwh a year.

9) Coffee Shops –

When making a coffee the coffee machine will use around 300 to 600 watts of power for 2 cups of coffee and 1000 to 1500 watts for 8-10 cups of coffee. We estimate that an average coffee maker will use 800 watts to produce 4 cups of coffee in 10 minutes. Whilst this may make you think twice about how often you use that fancy machine at home, spare a thought for coffee shops that use an average of 19,008 kwh a year.

Many of these sectors have been put under strain throughout covid, and as energy prices soar in the run up to winter the need to keep energy costs down is on many a business owners mind.

Speak to one of our team today and find out how switching to UGP can save you money. Call our dedicated account managers on 0844 318 0044.