EDF gifting customers free electricity to power Christmas Day
WATT!? 114 million pigs in blankets, 332 million cups of tea and 4 billion twinkly lights estimated to fuel Britain’s festive power use
- Households celebrating Christmas are estimated to use 65 kWh of electricity on Christmas Day alone, enough to watch Home Alone back-to-back 183 times
- Surprisingly contributing to this load; two in five (22%) pet owners even go the extra mile to cook a special Christmas meal for their pet, while 1 in 10 are planning to use LED face masks (10%) and ring lights for festive selfies (10%)
- Cooking Christmas dinner is one of the most electricity-intensive activities, with the nation roasting over 14 million turkeys and 114 million pigs in blankets
- To help households enjoy the festivities, EDF is gifting customers eight hours of free electricity from 8am-4pm on Christmas Day
With Christmas Day just a month away, Brits across the UK have begun preparing for the holiday season. But with meals to cook and trees to light up, how much power does it really take to fuel the nation’s favourite festive traditions?
Households are estimated to use more than 65 kWh of electricity on Christmas Day
New research, conducted by EDF*, reveals that households celebrating Christmas are estimated to use more than 65 kWh** of electricity on Christmas Day alone. This is seven times the usual daily consumption of 8–10 kWh*** - enough to watch Home Alone back-to-back 183 times.
Among the more unusual contributions to the day’s load, two in five (22%) pet owners go the extra mile to cook a special Christmas meal for their pet, alongside the 14.6 million turkeys and 114 million pigs in blankets Brits are expected to consume this Christmas****.
Beauty prep is also important as 1 in 10 are planning to use LED face masks (10%) and ring lights for festive selfies (10%) to ensure their Christmas Day looks are Insta-worthy.
Cooking Christmas dinner for family and friends remains at the heart of the celebrations, with three quarters (76%) of Brits planning to prepare a traditional meal complete with turkey (67%), roast potatoes (75%), pigs in blankets (57%) and stuffing (54%), washed down with a whopping 0.9 litres of gravy, proving its unwavering importance at the Christmas table.
Brits to make 332 million cups of tea and coffee
But it is not just ovens that are working overtime. Brits are expected to brew a whopping 332 million cups of tea and coffee, enough to fill 32 Olympic-size swimming pools.
With Christmas specials and the King's Speech to tune into, 93% of Brits plan to watch TV at some point during the day. Families across the UK will also spend an estimated 131 hours charging new devices on Christmas Day alone - from phones and tablets to games consoles, all while powering 18.5 million dishwasher loads.
Household lights are another star of the show, with 87% of homes brightening their festivities with Christmas tree lights for almost eight hours. In fact, the average home is expected to display 245 LED lights, contributing to more than 4 billion individual fairy lights twinkling across the UK throughout the day.
EDF is gifting customers eight hours of free electricity on Christmas day
To help families enjoy the festivities, EDF is gifting customers eight hours of free electricity from 8am-4pm on Christmas Day, covering the hours when the nation’s electricity use hits its festive peak.
Customers can register for the free electricity offer from today by signing up to December's Sunday Saver Challenge. In addition to free power on Christmas Day, participants can earn up to 16 hours of free electricity across four Sundays - 14th, 21st, 28th December and 4th January - by shifting their weekday usage away from peak hours.
The opt-in window for the December challenge will close 11:59pm on 30th November. Anyone who misses this deadline for the December challenge, can still gain access to free power on Christmas Day by signing up before 11:59pm on 24th December.
Rich Hughes, Director of Retail at EDF, said: “Christmas is a time for joy and togetherness - and we want to make sure nothing gets in the way of that. From cooking the turkey to lighting up your home and sharing countless cups of tea, the day is full of energy and celebration. That’s why we’re giving our customers eight hours of free electricity on Christmas Day - so families can power their festive traditions without worrying about the cost.”
More than 220,000 customers have already benefitted from EDF’s Sunday Saver initiative since it began, earning more than 13 million hours of free electricity and saving over £3.4m million on bills.
Sign-up to December’s Sunday Saver to earn free electricity on Christmas Day.
Top electricity-intensive festive traditions
- Charging electric vehicles to pick up relatives
- Cooking Christmas dinner and all the trimmings
- Keeping the house clean and tidy by doing the dishes and laundry
- Watching festive films, TV specials and the King’s Speech
- Entertaining the family with karaoke, gaming and charging devices
- Powering fairy lights and outdoor decorations
Notes to Editors
*Research among a nationally representative survey of 2,000 UK adults, conducted by 3Gem in November 2025.
**kwh calculated via watts per appliance from National Energy Action (NEA).
***Average daily kwh usage per household: UK Power
KwH calculation worked out as follows:
- From the 2,000 respondents who celebrate Christmas, each household’s average electricity usage was calculated by multiplying the NEA’s average wattage for each appliance by the average number of hours used on Christmas Day.
- Formula: kWh = (appliance wattage ÷ 1000) × hours used
- Home Alone: average TV consumption on Christmas Day (5.7 hours) ÷ film length (1.4 hours) = 4 viewings.
- 4 viewings = 1.425 kwh ÷ 4 = 0.35625 kWh
- Total Christmas day kwh usage (65.312 kwh) ÷ one viewing of Home Alone (0.35625 kWh) = 183.3 times
- Olympic size pool: one cup (0.24 L) x number of cups of tea and coffee (332 M) = 79,680,000 litres. Standard Olympic size pool (Flurida): 2,500,000.
- 79,680,000 litres (cups of tea) ÷ 2,500,000 (Olympic swimming pool) = 31.9 Olympic size swimming pools.
****UK homes celebrating Christmas (ONS, 2024)
- 28.6m UK homes x 86% celebrating Christmas* x 67% hosting guests* (3Gem)
About EDF
EDF is driving the transition towards An Electric Britain – a secure, affordable, low-carbon future for everyone. As Britain’s biggest generator of zero carbon electricity, we are investing more than £100 million weekly in Britain’s electricity infrastructure. We supply millions of customers with electricity and help homes and businesses switch to electricity for heating, transport and industrial processes.
We operate five nuclear power stations and more than 35 onshore wind farms and three offshore wind farms. Since 2009, EDF has invested almost £9 billion in the nuclear fleet to improve reliability and extend station lifetimes. The five generating stations currently supply about 12% of the UK’s electricity demand.
EDF is building the UK's nuclear renaissance with the construction of a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C. We are a minority investor (12.5%) in and major supplier to a replica plant at Sizewell C in Suffolk. Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C will provide low carbon electricity to meet 14% of UK demand and power around 12 million homes. EDF Group companies Framatome and Arabelle Solutions have a presence in the UK and manufacture critical equipment such as reactor pressure vessels and turbines.
EDF is enabling its 5 million customers, both in business and at home, to choose electric solutions that save cash and carbon, whether it is buying an electric car, generating and storing electricity, selling energy back to the grid or installing solar panels or a heat pump. In 2025, EDF’s Customers business was ranked as one of the Sunday Times’s Best Place to Work.
It is also one of the UK’s leading developers of renewable energy through EDF power solutions UK and Ireland. We have more than 2GW of renewable generation in operation and over 10GW in construction, planning and development across a range of technologies including onshore and offshore wind, solar and battery storage.
We are one of the largest suppliers to British business and a leading supplier of innovative energy solutions that are helping businesses become more energy independent. In addition, the company’s energy services business, Dalkia, one of the UK and Ireland’s largest technical service providers.
Related articles
Beat the Cap: EDF cuts standing charges by £100
