Households around the country are burning up 20 cent every morning to rid their car windscreens of ice.
And Ireland’s national power supply operator Eirgrid has revealed that the cold spell caused a new record surge of demand on the network.
Figures show that the cost of boiling a kettle is 6.7 cent per five-minute boil and researchers estimate that many motorists use three kettle loads to clear their windscreens.
However, Eirgrid has revealed that the extra kettle boils nationwide have not caused a significant spike in morning demand, while the evenings remain busiest.
And driving experts at AA Ireland have warned that pouring boiling water on iced windscreens could be a costly mistake – because it cracks the glass.
Professor Aoife Foley, from Cork, is an energy systems engineer at Queen’s University Belfast and worked out the cost of boiling a kettle.
It costs 20 cent to boil for 15 minutes at a cost of 1.33 cent per minute, meaning 6.7 cent for a five-minute boil in a typical kettle, according to the research.
This is a 100% price increase in the two years since 2020 when research showed that the cost of boiling a full, standard 1.5 litre kettle was 2.5c per boil.
Other electrical essentials that some homes are using to stay warm in the ongoing cold snap include electric heater, cookers, showers, and toasters.
Prof Foley calculated that it costs €1.02 to run a plug-in electric heater for one hour, 68 cent to use an electric cooker for an hour, 81 cent to run an electric shower for 15 minutes, and 2c to have a toaster on for five minutes.
Energy bill experts warn that the costs all add up, as electricity bills increased by 28% on average, with prices up 72% in the last year.
A spokesperson for Eirgrid told the Irish Mirror/ Star: “There has been no spike in the mornings.
“However, we did experience a new all-time record for electricity demand on Monday.
“During what was a very cold day, demand soared to 5,504 megawatts at 5.30pm.
“This beat the previous record of 5,363 megawatts set in December 2021.”
He added: “Demand for electricity peaks between 5pm and 7pm as people return from work, school etc and turn on appliances.
“The cold weather is a significant factor. A one degree drop in temperature results in a 40 megawatt increase in demand for electricity.”
Meanwhile, AA Ireland told motorists that boiling water will melt on your windshield and door handles in seconds – but it is also the source of many of its callouts during winter.
Boiling water on iced screens can cause the glass to rapidly expand and then crack when the heated glass meets the freezing temperatures.
Road safety experts warn that any compromise in the windscreen undermines the strength of the windscreen and is a serious safety hazard.
The AA’s Paddy Comyn said: “The advice is not to use boiling water.
"Our AA patrols are often called out to people because they have put a fresh kettle of boiling water across their windscreen.
“This cracks windscreens quite a lot."
He added: “Use anti-freeze or lukewarm to lightly warm water instead, but not a boiled kettle.
"Warm water or some anti-freeze spray, but not boiling water."
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