The Power of the Haggis!

SCOTTISH FEAST USES ENOUGH ENERGY TO POWER STIRLING HOMES FOR THREE WEEKS!

• Energy used across Scotland to cook St Andrews Day feast could power Stirling homes for three weeks
• Preparing one dinner uses the same amount of energy as powering an LCD TV for six weeks
• Haggis is the most energy-intensive ingredient to cook, using enough energy to power a games console for almost four days

People across the nation will be busy preparing for St Andrew’s Day celebrations today and new research has revealed just how much energy Scotland will use preparing the famous feast.

Analysis from Scottish Gas has calculated the power it will take to cook a traditional St Andrew’s Day meal, which includes dishes of haggis, cock-a-leekie soup and Cullen skink.

The research found that the full supper will use 32kWH^[1] of energy to cook, the equivalent of powering an LCD TV for six weeks^[2].

The data revealed that if half of Scottish residents cooked a complete St Andrew’s Day feast, it would use a total of 39.9 million kWH of energy, enough to power all 39,000 houses in Stirling for three weeks^[3].

And if just 50% of Edinburgh’s households joined in with the cooking festivities, the energy used could power each home in the city for more than eight hours^[4]. 

The most energy intensive dish on the plate is haggis, which takes 7.8kWH^[1] to cook – enough to power a games console for a 87 hours^[5]. This is followed by traditional neeps and tatties, which use the same energy as powering a desktop computer for nearly three days, and stovies, the energy equivalent of lighting an LED bulb for more than 500 days^[5].

Stephen Cosgrove, a Scottish Gas Smart Energy Coach who installs smart meters across Edinburgh, said: “St Andrew’s Day is a celebration enjoyed across Scotland, and families will be gearing up for a day filled with festivities and plenty of traditional food.

“As we’re tucking into our stovies or filling up on haggis, it’s unlikely that we’ll be thinking about how much energy the meal has taken to cook, but it is important we keep an eye on energy use around the home.

“Smart meters are a great way of monitoring energy use. They come with a smart energy monitor that shows how much energy is being used in pounds and pence, in near real time, helping to put you in control of your energy use and spend. Our dual fuel customers with smart meters save, on average, £33 on energy per year.

“They also mean an end to estimated bills and manual meter readings as they automatically send readings to your supplier, so you don’t have to.”

British Gas has installed more than 520,000 smart meters in homes across Scotland.

To find out more about smart meters visit: www.britishgas.co.uk/smart