Parents pay as adult kids switch on

ADULT children who refuse to leave the family nest are driving up power bills to more than $ 2000 a quarter then refusing to pay, according to a Queensland energy consultant.

Anne Armansin, a former Origin Energy expert who now works with lowincome households to try and cut their power bills, said her household audits often found “lazy” adult children were responsible for the bulk of the household energy costs but they refused to contribute.

“There are a lot of parents who have their adult children living with them who may not contribute to their electricity bill,” Ms Armansin said.

“I have been in homes all over Australia and I continually meet with parents who are distraught that their children have no consideration for the value of their ( power) use.

“They use up to three times as much power. It’s like they are a second household running in the garage. I have been in homes where unemployed adult children have their ( computer) games on 12 hours a day. They are frying their brains and chewing up power.

“They are lazy enough to use the ( clothes) dryer ( at) $ 1.20 a load.”

She said householders were also locking their pets in while they were at work with the airconditioner running all day, when a far cheaper alternative was to use a sturdy pedestal fan.

The cost of running each fan was as low as 2c an hour, she said.