Alcohol Units Calculator

Ever wondered how many units there are in a drink? A weak 3.6% pint of beer has 2 units in it. In the UK to remain within the drink drive limit you can have between 1-2 pints except that many pints are not 3.8%, many pints are 5.0%. So what difference does that make? Well a 5% beer has 2.84 units in it. Now the 1-2 pints is much closer to 1 than 2. This App can can be used to just calculate the number of units in a drink but it can also be used to keep track of units consumed. Just press the 'Add Units' button. Until you ask yourself the question how many units am I consuming day by day, week by week and through the months you will have no idea. Many people wildly underestimate the amount they drink. This App can tell you and it can be very enlightening. Unlike other Apps this one makes no judgement on how much you drink it is a means for you to understand the amounts and to act as you see fit. If you choose to cut down then that is your choice. Maybe this App will confirm that apart from the odd day or two you are generally within guidelines.

Checks the alcohol units in any drink of an alcohol percentage and any volume.
Add the calculated units to your total for the day. See how many units you have consumed through the days, weeks and months.
See the average across a ten day period to gain insight into your drinking habits.
Volumes can be expressed in US fluid ounces, millilitres, centilitres, litres and UK Pints. The values are entered via a number pad so any amount can be entered.

When the Application Starts

The App initialises itself to read all the previously entered information for the days already entered. Obviously the first time it starts there is no saved information.

The first tab (Graph & Input) of the App is the screen where you can determine the number of units a drink has.

You enter the information for the drink and it will calculate the number of units for you. You can then add these units to the day's total units and this will be reflected on the graph.

The units for the drink changes as you enter the values. Once you changed all the information that you need to then look at the units for the drink to the right.

Under the value for the drink just entered is the total number of drinks for that day. This will only show a value if you are also using 'Add Units' to remember the drinks consumed.

FAQ: To add units to a different day: On the Graph & INput tab use the date picker on the left to find the day you want to add the units to.

Month List Tab

This tab shows you in table form all the units you have consumed per month.

You can move between the months using the previous and next buttons.

You can also select to delete all the units for a day by selecting the row in the table and then selecting 'Delete Units'. There is no undo for this action.

The Weekly View

You enter units on a per day basis but another interesting fact is how many units you consume per week. The UK government recommends men to drink no more than 3-4 units per day and women 2-3 units a day. You can choose what your own personnal limit is. This is entered on the Preferences Tab.

What the weekly graph shows you is the last 26 weeks (half a year) of units consumed. This will give you a more long term overview of how much you are consuming. The limit shown on the graph is your daily limit amount multiplied by seven.

The Graph

The Graph of the App shows you your units for the current month or for the last 26 weeks.

Use the Previous or Next Month buttons to see other months or 26 week periods.

The graph is a combination of a bar chart and a line chart. The red bars show you your units for each day or week. The units are specified to the left. The green line is the daily/weekly units you have chosen on the Preferences Tab. It defaults to 3 but this can be changed in the preferences. The yellow line shows you the rolling average for each day for the last 10 days/10 weeks.

The rolling average is a better indication of your consumption over a longer period. You can drink a lot one day but if you then consume little or nothing for the following days then the rolling average will reflect this by spreading the units consumed on one day across a number of days.

Your daily consumption can be much greater than your daily limit but the rolling average may be much closer to this value because you have not consumed that much on other days.

The Preferences Tab

Select the Preferences Tab and the preferences for the App are shown. To change the behaviour of the program you have to save these preferences.

There are only two preferences and these are: Your chosen units per day and whether you will enter the percentage alcohol as ABV or ABW.

The recommended daily units varies per country. In the UK the lower end value is 3 for men and 2 for women. The App defaults to 3. To change this just select the field and enter your chosen limit.

Alcohol Percentages are expressed as either ABV or ABW. Europe and many other countries use ABV. In the US both ABV and ABW are used. It is important to know which the percentage alcohol is expressed in because a 4% ABW is the equivalent to 5% ABV. To convert ABW to ABV: ABW x 1.25 = ABV. The program will do this for you if you enter the value as ABW and ABW is selected in the preferences.