Energy Facts for Northern Ireland

5 things you probably didn't know (well, at least 3)

1. Should I order 500 litres or 900 litres?
Whilst some suppliers may charge the same pence per litre for 500 litres as for 900 litres, we've calculated that, on average, you could pay 1.7 pence less per litre for 900 litres compared with 500 litres.

Based on a 1.7 pence per litre discount, the table below shows the average amount of money you might save on average each year depending on how much oil you use:



A benefit to ordering smaller amounts of fuel is that less fuel is at risk from theft. Smaller amounts would also be easier to budget for.

2. It has been estimated than 1 litre of oil was produced by just over 21 tons of ancient, decayed biomass (plants and animals)
Source: Burning Buried Sunshine: Human Consumption of Ancient Solar Energy

3. How does the price of oil affect the price of ...

Electricity - Many power stations in Northern Ireland use oil to help generate electricity,as this map demonstrates. Electricity prices went up 14% in July 2008.
Food - It has been said that it takes 6 barrels of oil to bring a cow to market

4. What is "fuel poverty" ?
The definition of fuel poverty that will be used by all Departments in Northern Ireland is:
A household is in fuel poverty if, in order to maintain an acceptable level of temperature throughout the home, it would have to spend more than 10% of its income on all household fuel use.
Source: Ending fuel poverty - A Strategy for Northern Ireland

5. What is Economy 7?
This is a generic term to describe off-peak night time electricity (economy meaning cheap, 7 describing the 7 off-peak hours). In the case of Northern Ireland Electricity, the off-peak hours vary and can be between 1am to 8am in winter and 2am to 9am in summer.

Note that electricity customers need to apply for Economy 7. The cheap off-peak rate is not applied automatically and a standing charge applies (price listed in July 2008 is £35.60).