Mum-of-22 Sue Radford faces multiple power blackouts as energy prices soar

14 February 2023, 13:19 | Updated: 24 February 2023, 09:27

The Radfords have experienced multiple power blackouts at home. Picture: Channel 5

Dad Noel cuts down on costs by using a stopwatch to time the children's showers.

Britain's biggest family The Radfords have been plunged into darkness at their family home after experiencing multiple energy blackouts.

Mum-of-22 Sue and her husband Noel admitted to being hit hard by the cost of living crisis and confessed their pay-as-you-go smart meter often runs out.

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Once the funds drop to £0 the power switches off, leaving the married couple and 16 of their 22 children in the pitch black with no appliances.

In the sixth episode of their hit show 22 Kids & Counting, Sue vented about growing energy costs and revealed the challenges her super-sized family were facing.

The Radfords revealed they had been hit hard by soaring energy costs. Picture: Channel 5

Speaking of the constant battle to keep the electricity going, she said: "It’s ridiculous, I’m sure I put £50 on that yesterday morning.

"This is getting beyond a joke, it really is ridiculous."

Husband Noel explained: "We have a top-up thing which we like, it’s handy because you keep on top of your bills and you don’t run up a big bill, but it’s just getting crazy, stupid, we feel like we’re down the shop everyday topping up.

"It’s gone up a lot, in a month I think we’ve spent between £500-£600."

The super-sized family experienced energy blackouts and were left in darkness. Picture: Channel 5

Tuning into the realisation his family were struggling to keep up with energy costs, 13-year-old Max decided to come up with a plan.

Using his maths skills, the savvy teen drafted an extensive list of energy output and devised some savvy tips for his parents and siblings to help lower bills.

Max explained: "I know that there’s 18 of us in the house, but the amount that we spend per month is ridiculous so someone needs to stop it and that someone is me."

"I have collected the data, I am now crunching the numbers and visiting the websites that I need to visit, to figure out how much energy/electricity each appliance uses."

Max, 13, came up with some savvy energy saving tips. Picture: Channel 5

After putting the information down on paper, he handed the list to his parents, to which Noel replied: "This is quite scary, when it’s written down in front of you and you look at it and there’s 18 of us."

Max's mother Sue agreed, adding: "The washing machine is quite expensive isn’t it - 71p an hour and it’s on for three or four times a day."

Noel continued: "Obviously it’s a big eye opener to us and now we understand why we are pretty much topping up the electric every other day."

Once the family had a comprehensive understanding of why their energy bills were soaring, Noel decided to take strict measures to cut costs.

Radfords trust their kids with the weekly shop

He said: "As Max has been keeping me updated on how much everything costs, the electric shower seems to be quite high up there, so they’re going to go for a shower but I’m going to stand outside with a stopwatch and bang on the door when it’s time to get out.

"Poor old Max might have shot himself in the foot here.

"He’s got two minutes and that’s it, he’s getting thrown out."

Max's other cost-cutting ideas included using hot water from the iron to make tea, and piling all the children into one room to save on lightbulb energy.