The Energy Cost of Hosting Friends

The “host friend” is that person in your social circle whom you can always rely on to throw the best parties and gatherings. Whether it’s a night in watching your favourite sports team or a barbecue on the patio, they love to invite everyone around, and you love to visit their home! What you may not realise, though, is that there are hidden costs behind acting as your group’s host friend.

With the cost of living rising worldwide, energy bills are becoming increasingly expensive. This means that while you’re hosting your friends, you may end up spending more than you realise, as your guests will tend to use more electricity, water, and heating than your household typically would.

To show how much you could save the next time you host, the energy comparison experts at iSelect looked at regions across Australia, the US, and the UK where energy bills are the highest for throwing common types of parties. Read on to see where your local area ranks.

The cost of hosting a sports night

Hosting a sports night can be a fun way to bring your friends together and cheer on your favourite team, but depending on which league you’re watching, you could be paying different amounts for your support. This is because the average runtime of a game and the number of games played in a season can vary.

If you’re hosting a one-off sports night, the Melbourne Cup Carnival is the most expensive event. With an average runtime of 6 hours, watching a typical day at the races uses AU$1.83 worth of electricity. By comparison, an Australian Football League (AFL) game uses just AU$0.76 worth of electricity, but with 23 games in an average season, you can expect to use AU$17.54 of electricity if you’re hosting watch parties for each fixture in your team’s calendar.

How expensive are sports nights in the long term?

In terms of season-wide support, the National Basketball Association (NBA) is by far the costliest league to follow. While the average game runs for 2 hours and 16 minutes and uses just AU$0.69 worth of electricity, the regular season features an average of 82 games. This means you can expect to use AU$56.69 worth of electricity per year if you’re hosting friends for each matchup. In contrast, the National Football League (NFL) uses just AU$16.59 worth of electricity across 17 games per season, but with the average match lasting more than 3 hours, you can expect to use around AU$0.98 worth of electricity per watch party.

The Premier League ranks second on our list of the most expensive sports to host a season of watch parties, with fans using an average of AU$23.18 worth of electricity per year to stream their games. While a typical game uses just AU$0.61 worth of electricity, each team plays around 38 matches per season, which adds up to make the league a particularly expensive hosting hobby.

The cost of hosting barbecues

Looking to get behind the grill for your friends this summer? You may want to think twice if you hope to save money, as a barbecue can be energy intensive. Here’s how much a barbecue party can cost around the world:

Australia

On average, a barbecue party in Australia can use AU$2.41 worth of electricity of energy. That means if you’re hosting a party every other weekend in summer, you can expect to use AU$14.45 worth of electricity on average. Over a whole lifetime (84 years on average in Australia), that can add up to a huge total of AU$852.70 worth of electricity!

The state with the highest energy costs is South Australia, where a barbecue typically uses AU$3.31 worth of electricity – that can amount to AU$1,171.74 over a lifetime. New South Wales and Queensland tie for the second-most expensive states for hosting barbecues, each using AU$2.48 worth of electricity per average gathering, while Western Australia follows with AU$2.41 worth of electricity per barbecue.

On the other end of our list, Victoria stands out as the cheapest state for energy costs. Residents use an average of AU$1.96 worth of electricity for a barbecue, amounting to AU$693.84 over a lifetime.

United States

Hosting a barbecue can vary in price hugely across the US, with energy costs fluctuating regionally. Hawaii has the highest overall barbecue costs, with a typical gathering using US$3.05 worth of electricity. That adds up to US$18.3 worth of electricity across a summer, or US$988.2 worth of electricity across a lifetime (based on the average US lifespan of 79 years).

California ranks second, with an average barbecue using US$2.45 worth of energy, while Massachusetts ranks third (US$2.29 worth of electricity per barbecue).

Showing just how much of a gap there is between the most and least expensive states, Idaho and North Dakota tie at the bottom of our rankings, each costing less than a third of Hawaii’s energy prices at just US$0.89 worth of electricity per barbecue. Across a lifetime, that adds up to just US$288.36 worth of electricity.

United Kingdom

The UK is known for its unpredictable weather conditions, so Brits like to savour any change they get to celebrate the sunshine in the summer. Despite this, the cost of your grilling can vary by region.

The most expensive areas for hosting a barbecue are North Wales and Mersey, where hosts can expect to use £2.19 worth of electricity per gathering. If you’re hosting every other weekend across the summer, that can total £13.14 worth of electricity per season, or £735.84 over 81 years (the average lifespan for a UK resident).

In second place, the North West uses £2.14 worth of electricity per barbecue on average, while Northern Scotland and the South East tie in third, using £2.13 worth of electricity each.

Meanwhile, the North of England and Yorkshire enjoy the cheapest barbecues in the country. With a typical barbecue using just £2.01 worth of energy, a summer of gatherings totals around £12.06 worth of electricity.

The cost of hosting Christmas

Now that we’ve covered sport-watch parties and barbecues, what’s it like to invite your friends and family over for a Christmas get-together? Here’s the cost of hosting Christmas around the world:

Australia

As we’ve already covered, South Australia has the highest energy bills in the country. With a Christmas gathering using an average of AU$18.47 worth of electricity, if you’re hosting every year, you’ll be using a massive AU$1,089.73 worth of energy across your lifetime.

Victoria, which has the lowest energy costs in Australia, enjoys much cheaper Christmases by comparison. A typical festive period uses AU$10.92 worth of electricity, totalling AU$644.28 worth of electricity across the average lifetime.

United States

Christmas in Hawaii is more energy-intensive than anywhere else in the US, with a typical host’s house using US$17.04 worth of electricity across the holiday. In the long run, that can add up to an average of US$920.16 worth of electricity over a lifetime.

Meanwhile, North Dakota and Idaho once again reap the benefits of low-cost energy. They can host Christmas for a staggeringly low US$4.96 worth of electricity each year, totalling US$267.84 worth of electricity over the average American lifespan. That’s almost a quarter of the cost of a Hawaiian Christmas!

United Kingdom

Once again, North Wales and Mersey’s high electricity costs place them at the top of our rankings of the most expensive UK regions for hosting Christmas. With an average host using £14.41 worth of energy over the festive period, a lifetime of Christmases can add up to £809.96 worth of electricity.

On the other hand, Yorkshire spends much less on its electricity during the winter. Its residents use just £13.22 worth of electricity each year, totalling £740.32 worth of electricity over a lifetime.

Despite very little regional variation, the UK has the highest average energy costs, with a typical household using £13.72 worth of electricity over the Christmas period. Australia uses £13.44 worth of electricity by comparison, while the US averages just £7.53 worth of electricity.