Student Advice Service – Money Matters

News from the Student Advice Service at the University of Brighton

Money Week competitions – answers and winners

During February the Student Advice Service went on the road to all the campuses with our National Student Money Week tour bus (which actually sounds more rock and roll than it was). Some of you may have come over for a chat, or got involved with all our lovely online information via this blog, For those of you who engaged with the stall, we hope you went away with some helpful information and a freebie! You may also have taken part in our competitions where we asked you to tell us something about where you live, either positive or negative, and about energy use around the home.  We will be using your feedback to provide helpful advice and information to new incoming students and to help inform us about what is important to you and how we can better support you in achieving this.

Well… the wait is over! Here are the quiz answers (including the information source) and the ‘Where I Live’ luggage tag comments complied into themes.

Negative issues about where you live (1. being the most negative)

  1. Comments about location 24
  2. Travel is expensive/poor for transport: 17
  3. Accommodation in bad condition: 10
  4. = Rent is expensive: 10
  5. Too hilly: 8
  6. Comments about Landlord/Agency being unhelpful/unresponsive: 4
  7. Comments about flatmates: 3
  8. Bad food in Halls: 2

Positive issues (1. being the most positive)

  1. Good location: 55 eg close to town, amazing view, beach, nice area, great neighbours, feel safe
  2. Good accommodation: 21 eg garden, clean, warm, safe and cosy
  3. Good flatmates: 8
  4. Good for transport: 7 eg Cycle to keep fit if you live far from Uni
  5. Good Landlord: 3
  6. Cheap rent: 2

Our top picks of the tag comments for each campus are as follows:

FALMER: Downs nearby, fantastic views, peaceful neighbourhood, great neighbours (Bevendean)

EASTBOURNE: Friendly

MOULSECOOMB: Hard to predict bill amounts and not being able to afford it

GRAND PARADE: I love my flatmates

HASTINGS: Being taken advantage of by the landlord

All winners have been notified and received one of our cleaning goods hampers:

We also ran the energy saving quiz and from the 316 entrants, 2 lucky winners received vouchers for Sainsburys £25 and Infinity Foods £20, both generously donated by the 2 stores.

Well done to our winners, but thank you to all who took part. Our students are generally energy saving savvy with the majority of entrants knowing (or guessing wisely) many of the correct answers.

Here are the all important answers with links to our data sources:

  1. I live in a house with other full time students, do we need to pay Council Tax

No you do not, https://www.nus.org.uk/en/advice/money-and-funding/council-tax/

2. Does my phone continue to use energy when fully charged

Yes unfortunately it does, so always make sure you turn the electricity off at the switch after charging

http://blog.clove.co.uk/2013/06/07/does-my-phone-continue-to-consume-energy-once-its-fully-charged/

3. I download and watch BBC tv programmes on the i-player, do I need a TV Licence

Yes you do, http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/for-your-home/students-aud1

If you don’t have one you should buy one now as the cost is increasing from £145.50 to £150.50 from 1st April  2018 this is cheaper than the maximum penalty for not having one which can be up to £1000 plus costs.

4. Is electricity consumed if the switch is on but nothing is connected to the socket – No because the electrical circuit is not completed

http://www.theenergycommunity.com/myth-busters-1/

5. How many litres of water is used if you leave the tap running when cleaning your teeth 3 or 6

Answer is 6, http://www.waterwise.org.uk/save-water/

6. If I leave the TV on standby does it still use electricity – Yes, it depends on the age but they all use some

https://www.thegreenage.co.uk/the-cost-of-leaving-appliances-in-standby-mode/

7. What uses more energy an oven or a microwave – answer is an oven

https://www.uswitch.com/energy-saving/guides/energy-efficient-cooking/

8. Is an empty fridge more energy efficient than a full fridge – No a full fridge is more energy efficient

https://www.servicecentral.com.au/article/whats-more-energy-efficient-a-full-fridge-or-an-empty-fridge/

9. Leaving a PC monitor switched on overnight, wastes the same amount of energy as it would take to: microwave 1 dinner, 3 dinners or 6 dinners – the answer is 6

https://www.theguardian.com/british-gas-smart-meter-challenge/quiz/how-energy-savvy-are-you-150-quiz

10. How many times a year does the average UK household boil a kettle – around 350 times, 1,500 times, 6,000 times  – the answer is 1500, just over 4 times a day!

https://www.theguardian.com/british-gas-smart-meter-challenge/quiz/how-energy-savvy-are-you-150-quiz

11. What uses more energy leaving lights on or switching them on and off – leaving lights on uses more energy than switching off and on so always switch off

http://www.green-energy-efficient-homes.com/turn-off-lights.html

12. Reducing your room temperature by 1°C could cut your heating bills by how much, up to 10%, around 25% just under 50% – the answer is up to 10%

http://rpa-energy.com/energiespartipps.html

And finally…..

13. If everyone across the UK unplugged their phone chargers when not in use we would save enough energy to: power 10, 20,000 or 115,000 homes for a year – answer is 115,000

https://www.theguardian.com/british-gas-smart-meter-challenge/quiz/how-energy-savvy-are-you-150-quiz

NB Questions 9, 10 and 13 are from an old Guardian Quiz “How energy savvy are you” published on 26.08.14, these links are a bit temperamental but if you google it the quiz will come up!!

It is significant that if we all make little changes we can potentially save a lot of energy, so spread the word to your housemates, friends and family and become one of those people who always turns off lights, pc monitors, phone chargers and the thermostat down, then watch them thank you when the utility bills come in.

If you have any top tips for us to share with our students (and staff!) please get in touch and let us know

Happy rest of holiday

Student Advice Service

Helen Abrahams • April 3, 2018


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