As UK households grapple with the cost of living crisis and prepare for things to get even worse in April, we are all looking at ways to save money where we can. Energy bills are set to go up by around £700 a year when the price cap is increased by Ofgem in response to a record increase in the global cost of gas.
Those on default tariffs paying by direct debit will see an increase from £1,277 to £1,971 per year. Prepayment customers will see a slightly higher increase from £1,309 to £2,017.
So what can we do about it? It might be a good time to look at how you use energy in the home.
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Based on current energy prices, Magnet looked at yearly running costs of the top 20 kitchen appliances by combining the average power rating and the estimated number of hours used yearly.
Ten of them cost over £50 a year, with the worst culprit being the dishwasher.
Appliance | Estimated average number of hours used yearly | Yearly energy use (watts) | Price to run for a year (£) | |
1 | Dishwasher | 1003 hours and 45 minutes | 1,355,063 | £266.00 |
2 | Fridge freezer | 8760 hours (1 Year) | 1,314,000 | £257.94 |
3 | Tumble Dryer | 273 hours and 45 minutes | 684,375 | £134.34 |
4 | Slow cooker | 2555 hours | 434,350 | £85.26 |
5 | Gas cooker | 273 hours and 45 minutes | 416,100 | £81.68 |
6 | Oven | 182 hours and 30 minutes | 392,375 | £77.02 |
7 | Grill | 243 hours and 20 minutes | 365,000 | £71.65 |
8 | Freezer | 8760 hours (1 Year) | 350,400 | £68.78 |
9 | Electric cooker | 273 hours and 45 minutes | 298,388 | £58.57 |
10 | Air fryer | 182 hours and 30 minutes | 273,750 | £53.74 |
11 | Kettle | 60 hours and 50 minutes | 127,750 | £25.08 |
12 | Pressure cooker | 121 hours and 40 minutes | 121,667 | £23.88 |
13 | Microwave | 91 hours and 15 minutes | 104,938 | £20.60 |
14 | Washing machine | 182 hours and 30 minutes | 91,250 | £17.91 |
15 | Rice cooker | 182 hours and 30 minutes | 91,250 | £17.91 |
16 | Coffee machine | 60 hours and 50 minutes | 85,167 | £16.72 |
17 | Toaster | 30 hours and 25 minutes | 39,542 | £7.76 |
18 | Food processor | 60 hours and 50 minutes | 21,292 | £4.18 |
19 | Juicer | 30 hours and 25 minutes | 10,646 | £2.09 |
20 | Blender | 12 hours 10 minutes | 4,258 | £0.90 |
The research from Magnet shows your dishwasher is most likely costing you the most when it comes to your yearly energy bill. Although it isn’t on for as many hours as some other appliances, it has a high energy use. In 12 months, the appliance will use up an average of 1,355,063 watts running up a high total cost of £266. This is higher than the cost of 24-hour use of a fridge-freezer, at the cost of £257.94.
Right at the bottom of the list is once again the blender. The gadget only uses 4,258 watts each year, running up a total cost of 90p. Juicers also won’t break the bank, using an average of 10,646 watts every year. The cost after this will only be £2.09 a year - and that’s even if you use it for five minutes every single day.
And we need to bear in mind that these prices will be going up. The average rate of electricity of 19.63p per kWh will increase to 28p per kWh from April for a typical customer paying by direct debit.
So what can we do about all this? There are a few ways to make energy use as efficient and economical as possible.
9 ways to save energy in the kitchen
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