Christmas in numbers: how do the festivities affect electricity use?
National Grid
Connecting millions of people to the energy they use, while making the energy system clean, fair, and affordable.
Many of our favourite Christmas traditions wouldn’t be possible without electricity; lighting up our trees, cooking Christmas dinner, watching festive movies and much more.
Electricity is something that can easily be taken for granted, yet it impacts almost every aspect of our lives – not least at Christmas time when hundreds of National Grid colleagues will be working to keep power supplied to festive celebrations around the country.
These are the facts and figures about the electricity powering Christmas this year.
1.? Over 50% green energy now powers the British Christmas
In 2023, renewable energy sources exceeded 50% of the electricity production in Britain on Christmas Day for the first time. By comparison, it was less than 1% on Christmas day 2009.
In the ten years from 2014 to 2023, the carbon intensity of the grid on Christmas Day has been reduced by six times, with 2023 ranking the lowest for emission intensity.
2. Over 15% more electricity is used in December
Our data[1] says demand for electricity rose by 15.5% in December last year – compared to the 2023 monthly average – as the nation turns on its Christmas lights.
3. Powering Christmas lights costs around 50p a day
It costs approximately 50p to light our Christmas trees with LED lights for six hours a day, throughout the entire festive period.
For those using incandescent lights the cost is over four times that, rising to ￡2 for the same amount of time.
4. The Christmas Day energy peak happens at 1:30pm
The energy peak for Christmas dinner is at approximately 1:30pm, suggesting that’s the time everyone gets cooking their Christmas dinners. In fact, it’s the only day of the year that the energy peak is not at teatime.
领英推荐
5. 23,500 homes could be powered by the energy used to cook Christmas turkeys
According to the British Poultry Council, Brits buy more than 8 million turkeys in advance of the big day. To cook 8.5 million turkeys, it takes 63GWh of energy, or enough energy to power 23,500 homes annually.
Fact: putting a turkey in the oven for one hour uses the equivalent amount of energy as lighting a single string of Christmas lights for six hours a day for the entire Christmas period.
6. Hundreds of National Grid employees will be ‘keeping the lights on’ at Christmas
Over Christmas Day and Boxing Day, National Grid employees will clock up 8,542 working hours between them - that’s equivalent to over 355 days worth of work!
7. Switching off standby could save ￡12.5 million
From TVs and set-top boxes to games consoles, soundbars and phone chargers, leaving things on stand-by all adds up. We estimate that if the country switched all TVs off standby it could save a collective ￡12.5 million and over 50GWh of power annually – equivalent to the annual energy consumption of nearly 19,000 homes.
Tips for saving energy this winter
According to the Energy Saving Trust, a typical British home could save up to ￡356 a year on bills by making simple changes to the way you use energy. Many of these changes will also make a positive impact on the environment by reducing your household’s carbon emissions.
[1] Based on data from National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED) covering the Midlands, Southwest and South Wales.