Australians are cranking up the heat for their pets this winter, and it’s coming at a hefty cost.
New analysis from Green.com.au reveals the rising trend of keeping dogs and cats toasty overnight could add up to $441 to household power bills this winter.
It comes as Google Trends data shows a sharp spike in searches for ‘pet heater’, peaking at 98 out of 100 in June, a month earlier than usual. Interest in the term sat at zero for the rest of the year.
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| Google Trends (Australia): 'pet heater'. |
According to Green.com.au, running a standard 2000W portable heater for eight hours a night can chew through up to 16kWh of electricity per day when run for 8 hours on maximum.
At 30 cents per kWh, that’s $4.80 a day, or $441 over 92 days of winter, just to keep one room warm for a pet.
“With electricity prices rising and cold nights getting longer, many Aussies are unknowingly burning through serious cash,” says Dave Green, energy expert at Green.com.au.
“People don’t connect the dots. They want to do the right thing for their pet, but one overnight heater can quietly add hundreds to your winter bill.
”Now, Aussies are beginning to catch on and starting to seek out cheaper alternatives. Google searches for ‘pet heater pad’ and ‘heated pet bed’ are surging, with the latter up 60% in recent weeks.“
There are energy-efficient options that cost as little as $10 a month to run. That’s a huge saving over a single winter,” Green says.
“If you’re heating an entire room for one small animal, especially without a thermostat or timer, chances are you’re paying far more than you need to.”
With winter just beginning, Green.com.au is urging pet owners to weigh the cost of warmth, and switch to smarter, pet-specific heating solutions that won’t blow out the power bill.
References:
The data analysed by Green.com.au for this release uses a conservative average hourly electricity figure of 30 cents, based on average electricity costs of different providers around Australia. Google Trend data is sourced from Google based on relative Web Search levels of ‘pet heater’ in Australia over the past year on a scale of 0 to 100.
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