What things cost to run, worked from the current rate rather than from an article written two years ago.
Do it yourself in one line
The appliance's power is on its rating plate in watts; divide by 1,000. Your unit rate is on your bill, not on a comparison site. A 2.2kW kettle boiling for three minutes uses 0.11kWh, which is about 2.75p at 25p a unit.
Where the money actually goes
Anything whose job is to make heat is expensive, and everything else is not. Kettles, ovens, tumble dryers, immersion heaters and electric heaters turn electricity directly into heat, and heat costs. A television or a phone charger left on will not move your bill however guilty the advice makes you feel.
That is why the savings that work are all about heat: washing at 30 rather than 40, drying outdoors, filling the kettle only as far as you need, and using the oven once rather than three times in an evening.
Why published figures are usually wrong
- The rate is out of date. The cap changes quarterly, so old arithmetic is arithmetic on
a number that no longer exists.
- They assume your usage. "Cost to run a tumble dryer" depends entirely on how many loads
and which programme.
- They quote the maximum rating. A washing machine draws full power only while heating
water. Fridges cycle. For anything that does not run flat out, the plate overstates it.
See running costs for the longer version, and frugal living for the decisions that matter more than any individual appliance.