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Sure, you may try to be energy conscious, but how much do you really know about the energy you use? Luckily with <a href="https://www.smartenergygb.org/en/how-to-get-a-smart-meter/who-can-get-a-smart-meter/tenants" target="_blank">the smart meter rollout</a>, you can get a bit more clued up about it!

Sure, you may try to be energy conscious, but how much do you really know about the energy you use? Luckily with the smart meter rollout, you can get a bit more clued up about it!

How Green Are You Actually?

The energy Google’s system uses to perform those searches could power a 60-Watt light bulb for nearly three minutes. All those hours spent googling which celebs share your birthday takes way more energy than you’d think.

3 Minutes

Tumble dryers with an energy rating of C cost around £110 a year to run, depending on your energy tariff, but A++ ones run for about £35. So, A++ appliances can save you a bunch of money in the long-run.

£75

This is purely theoretical, obviously. It’s probably not possible for any human to yell for _that_ long – right?

8 years, 7 months, and 6 days

You know how you tend to make a cup of tea during TV ad breaks? A lot of other people do that, too. Dinorwig is built to deal with specific spikes in energy usage like ones caused by the nation’s [habit for making tea](http://www.bbc.co.uk/britainfromabove/stories/people/teatimebritain.shtml) during ad breaks in _Coronation Street._

Kettles

In 2040, it’s predicted energy generated from coal will account for 29% of global electricity usage, down from 40% in 2012. But, in actual terms, coal energy generation is going to increase from 8.6 trillion kWh in 2012 to 10.6 trillion kWh in 2040 – an increase of 23%.

2040

The average British household spends between £50–£86 a year as a result of leaving appliances on standby – which could be way better spent on important things like takeaways. It’s one of the most common “invisible” costs – but it’s a bit easier to keep track of with a smart meter.

9-16%

Before the mid-19th century, nearly all the energy we used was renewable. The oldest known controlled use of renewable energy (burning biomass to fuel fires) is in Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa, over 1 million years ago. The second oldest usage of renewables is wind energy, which has been used since 5000 BCE – around [7,000 years ago.](http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/W/AE_wind_energy.html)

1 million years ago

Leaving phones, laptops, and other devices plugged in after they’re done charging could be costing you around £60 a year on electricity bills. And not only does it cost you loads, it also wears down your phone battery a lot faster.

Surprisingly, people who live alone tend to spend about £84 a year on lighting compared to families, who only spend around £69. One-person homes tend to use just as much electricity and gas as the average family households, if not more.

People who live alone

Unfortunately, it’s a total myth that screensavers save energy compared to when the screen’s in normal use. Setting your screen to automatically power down after a few minutes of inactivity is a much better way of being a bit more efficient.

Nope

Curiosity needs 110W to run, compared to around [100W for a water cooler](https://www.daftlogic.com/information-appliance-power-consumption.htm). So a water cooler is highly inefficient, or Curiosity is seriously efficient – depending on how you look at it. Also, the other appliances mentioned actually require more energy than the rover.

A water cooler

If we only [boil the amount of water we actually need](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23175220) when we use a kettle, in a year we could save enough electricity to power the UK’s street lights for nearly seven months. Who knew tea could have such an impact, huh?

Overfilling kettles

Unfortunately you didn’t beat this quiz, but admittedly it was super tricky… Brush up on your energy knowledge and give it another go.

Less than 75%

OK, so you really know your stuff – way to go! You’ve just earned a ton of bragging rights.

75%+

<p>Check out <a href="https://www.smartenergygb.org/en/how-to-get-a-smart-meter/who-can-get-a-smart-meter/tenants#sid" target="_blank">Smart Energy GB</a> for info on how to get yours.</p>

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How Green Are You Actually?

Want to get more clued up on your household energy use? Smart meters can show you how much you’re spending in pounds and pence, in near real-time. Everyone in Britain will be offered one by their energy supplier, at no extra cost, by 2020.

How Green Are You Actually?

Want to get more clued up on your household energy use? Smart meters can show you how much you’re spending in pounds and pence, in near real-time. Everyone in Britain will be offered one by their energy supplier, at no extra cost, by 2020.

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