How Much Does it Cost to Run Household Appliances?

March 15, 2023 • Chris Bardsley

With energy bills more than doubling in the last 12 months and the cost of living crisis ongoing, everyone is keeping a closer eye on what they spend.

The increased cost of shopping and energy bills has led us to scrutinise our spending habits much more closely. One of the biggest costs are those things we rely on every day, like our cooker and fridge, but how much does it cost to run these appliances in the UK considering the cost of living crisis?

Here, we outline how much it costs to run your household essentials and offer some more cost-effective alternatives to running traditional appliances.

How much does it cost to run an oven?

Using an electric oven for an hour a day (seven hours per week) will cost an average of £5 per week, £19.99 per month or £259.60 per year.

How much does it cost to run an electric grill or hob?

Using an electric hob for 30 minutes a day will cost an average of £1.79 per week or £7.14 a month. Per year, using an electric grill or hob will, according to the Citizens Advice website, cost over £90 per year (£92.82).

How much does it cost to run a microwave?

One of the cheapest appliances to run is a microwave, costing a little over 27p to run per hour. It’s unlikely you’ll be running your microwave for an hour a week, but if you use it for five minutes a day (35 minutes a week), you’ll be spending about 16p over a 7-day period.

Over the course of a month, the approximate cost of running a microwave will be 64p or £7.68 per year.

How much does it cost to run fridges and freezers?

Designed to run all day, every day, fridges and freezers are essential appliances, but they can be costly.

To help keep costs down, you should ensure your freezer is defrosted regularly. The more iced up they are, the more energy your freezer will use and the less space there’ll be.

Some fridges are cheaper to run than others, electrical appliances are given a rating from A to G based on how efficient they are. The size of the appliance plays a part too, for example, a smaller C-rated fridge could use less electricity than a larger B-rated fridge.

How much your fridge could be costing per year:

  • F-rated 70/30 287-litre fridge freezer will cost £93.50.

  • E-rated 70/30 267-litre fridge freezer will cost £78.88.

  • D-rated 70/30 294-litre fridge freezer will cost £53.04.¹

How much does it cost to run a dishwasher?

A dishwasher will cost around 46p per hour to run, so if you’re running your dishwasher for two hours per week, it’ll cost 92p. The monthly cost of running a dishwasher at this rate will be £3.67 or £47.74 a year.

How much does it cost to run a washer and dryer?

An average three-person household will do around six to eight loads of laundry per week, with an average washing machine costing around 71p per hour to run. So, if you do 8 hours of washing per week, this will equate to approximately £5.71 per week, £22.85 per month or £297.02 a year.

Likewise, a tumble dryer costs roughly £1.27 per hour to run, so if you’re using yours for 4 hours a week, it’s likely costing £5.08. Over the course of a month, this is £20.32 or £243.84.

How much does it cost to run a kettle?

If you love a brew as much as us, the relatively cheap-to-run kettle can prove to be a pretty costly appliance. Costing around 59p a week (five minutes’ boiling time per day), a months’ brewing up will cost around £2.38 or £12.38 a year. Who says you can’t put a price on a good brew…

If you’re trying to save money, only putting what you need in your kettle instead of filling it can make a difference.

How much does it cost to run a TV?

Spending time in front of the TV is one of our favourite ways to unwind and relax, but it comes at a cost. An average TV will cost around 5p an hour to run, if you’re watching two hours a day this is roughly 71p or £2.86 a month. Over the course of a year, watching TV will cost £37.13.

In addition to this, a TV box, like one from Sky or Virgin, will cost around 2p an hour to run, so if you’re using a TV box for 14 hours a week, this is 28p a week, this works out at £1.12 a month or £13.44 a year.

Next time you’re worried about how much time you spend watching TV, remember there are more expensive things you could be doing…

How much does it cost to run a games console?

Similar to using a Sky or Virgin TV box, a games console is fairly cheap to run too. Costing roughly 5p an hour to use. So if your child is gaming for 10 hours a week, this will be just over 50p over the course of a year this is roughly £26.65 (£2.22 per month).

How much do other appliances cost to run?

How much does an iron cost to run?

An hour’s ironing will cost around 48p, so if you use an iron for an hour a week, this equates to £1.92 a month or £23.04 a year.

How much does it cost to run a vacuum?

Using a vacuum cleaner for an hour costs around 29p in electricity, so if you hoover for an hour a week, you’ll be spending £1.16 a month - a yearly total of £15.03.

How much does it cost to run a toaster?

If you use a toaster for a couple of minutes a day, it’ll cost you around 18p a week in electricity, over the course of a month this is 73p or £9.49 a year.

Saving money with cost-effective appliances

If you’re looking to restrict what you spend on electricity, consider switching to an air fryer or slow cooker. Slow cookers cost 16p a day, while air fryers cost marginally less at just 14p a day.²

Explore Our Guide to Saving Money with Cost-effective Appliances blog for tips and information on how much you could save by switching to cheaper appliances.

For more money-saving tips, information on how Fair for You is run, and more, explore our blog.

Unless otherwise stated, all costing information has been taken from the Citizens Advice Bureau website and is correct as of 13 February 2022.

External info links

¹ Ideal Home (2022) ‘How much does it cost to run a fridge freezer? Your questions answered’ <https://www.idealhome.co.uk/property-advice/how-much-does-it-cost-to-run-a-fridge-freezer-298277> [Accessed: 13 February 2023]

² ITV (2022) ‘Compare which appliances use most and least power as energy bills set to soar’ <https://www.itv.com/news/2022-08-26/compare-which-appliances-use-most-and-least-power-as-energy-bills-set-to-soar> [Accessed: 13 February 2023]

*Please note we’ve used links to external websites. Although we make every effort to ensure these links are accurate, up to date and relevant, Fair for You Enterprise CIC cannot take responsibility for pages maintained by external providers. Views expressed on external sites we link to are not necessarily those of Fair for You Enterprise CIC. If you come across any external links that don’t work, we would be grateful if you could report them to the web content team.

The content of this blog does not constitute personal financial advice, and the views expressed in it are those of the contributor or author, which may not necessarily represent or reflect the views expressed by Fair for You Enterprise CIC.


This entry was posted in Finance, Budgeting Tips, Buying Guides, Home Appliances and Blog
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