Appliance running cost calculator
Work out what an electric heater, tumble dryer, kettle, shower or any appliance costs to run an hour, a day, a week, a month and a year at the price cap rate.
- Cost an hour
- 65.8p
- 2.5 kWh an hour at 26.32p per kWh
- A day
- £2.63
- 4 hours a day
- A week
- £18.42
- 7 days a week
- A month
- £79.84
- a twelfth of a year
- A year
- £958
- 3,640 kWh over 52 weeks
The standing charge, 54.83p a day on average, is paid whether you use the appliance or not, so it isn’t included.
Compare common appliances
| Appliance | Typical figure | Cost at 26.32p per kWh |
|---|---|---|
| Electric heater | 2,500 W | 65.8p an hour |
| Kettle | 3,000 W | 79p an hour |
| Tumble dryer, condenser | 3.39 kWh | 89.2p each time |
| Tumble dryer, heat pump | 1.32 kWh | 34.7p each time |
| Washing machine | 1.17 kWh | 30.8p each time |
| Dishwasher | 0.99 kWh | 26.1p each time |
| Electric oven | 1.53 kWh | 40.3p each time |
| Fridge freezer | 34.4 W | 0.9p an hour |
| TV | 120 W | 3.2p an hour |
| Electric shower | 9,000 W | £2.37 an hour |
| Dehumidifier | 500 W | 13.2p an hour |
| Air fryer | 1.21 kWh | 31.8p each time |
| Electric blanket | 150 W | 3.9p an hour |
Cost is the energy used times the unit rate: a 2,500 W appliance uses 2.5 kWh in an hour at full power. The unit rate is Ofgem’s price cap average for electricity paid by Direct Debit from 1 October to 31 December 2026, 26.32p per kWh with no VAT, as household electricity in Great Britain is zero-rated until 31 March 2027. The cap changes every three months, next on 1 January 2027, and your own rate depends on your tariff and region. It doesn’t cover Northern Ireland, where electricity still has 5% VAT, so use the rate on your bill there. Typical figures come from the Centre for Sustainable Energy and Which?’s lab tests; heaters with thermostats, ovens and fridges switch on and off, so they use less than their full power. A week is the days you use it, a year is 52 weeks and a month is a twelfth of that. Check the label on yours for its own figure.
What goes in
Pick an appliance and the calculator fills in a typical figure, which you can change to match the label on yours. Things that draw power while they’re on, like a heater or a TV, are rated in watts, so you say how long they run each day. Washing machines, dishwashers, tumble dryers, ovens and air fryers vary through a cycle, so they use a figure for each time you run them. Then add how many days a week you use it and your unit rate from your bill.
What the result means
Cost is energy times price. A 2,500 W heater uses 2.5 kWh in an hour, which at 26.32p per kWh costs 65.8p. Four hours a day every day comes to £2.63 a day and about £958 a year. The standing charge, 54.83p a day on average, is paid whether you use anything or not, so it isn’t included.
Heaters with thermostats, fridges and ovens switch on and off once they’re up to temperature, so they use less than their full power. That’s why the fridge freezer uses an average of 34.4 W rather than its rating.
The rules and figures behind it
The default unit rate is Ofgem’s price cap average for electricity paid by Direct Debit from 1 October to 31 December 2026: 26.32p per kWh with no VAT, because household electricity in Great Britain is zero-rated until 31 March 2027. It’s an average across England, Scotland and Wales, and your own rate depends on your region and tariff. The cap doesn’t cover Northern Ireland, where electricity still has 5% VAT, so use the rate on your bill. The cap changes every three months; the next level starts on 1 January 2027 and is announced by 25 November 2026.
Power ratings come from the Centre for Sustainable Energy. The figures for each wash, drying cycle, oven meal and air fryer meal are worked back from Which?’s lab-tested yearly running costs and the use it assumes.
Sources
- Ofgem: energy price cap unit rates and standing charges
- Ofgem: changes to the energy price cap between 1 October and 31 December 2026
- Centre for Sustainable Energy: how much electricity am I using?
- HMRC: temporary zero rate of VAT for domestic electricity in Great Britain
- Which?: how much your appliances cost to run