The UK Appliance Running Cost Index
What it actually costs to run 25 common household appliances in Britain — per use, per hour and per year — priced at the current Ofgem electricity unit rate. One table, ranked, sortable, and free to cite. No scary numbers, no sales pitch: just the arithmetic.
Every appliance, priced
Tap any column heading to re-sort. Every appliance name links to a calculator where you can put your own machine, habits and tariff in. Ranked by yearly cost to start.
| Appliance | Power | Energy / use | Typical usage | Cost / use | Cost / hour | Cost / year ▼ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot tub | 2,000 W | 5 kWh /day | kept warm all year | £1.31 | 52p | £477 |
| Immersion heater | 3,000 W | 3 kWh /hour | 1.5 hours a day | 78p | 78p | £429 |
| Electric heater | 2,000 W | 2 kWh /hour | 4 hours a day · about 150 days a year | 52p | 52p | £313 |
| Oil-filled radiator | 1,500 W | 1.2 kWh /hour | 5 hours a day · about 120 days a year | 31p | 39p | £188 |
| Tumble dryer | 2,800 W | 4.5 kWh /load | 3 loads a week | £1.17 | 73p | £183 |
| Electric shower | 8,500 W | 1.2 kWh /shower | 7 showers a week | 31p | £2.22 | £114 |
| Gaming PC | 400 W | 0.4 kWh /hour | 3 hours a day | 10p | 10p | £114 |
| Electric oven | 2,100 W | 1.6 kWh /hour | 5 hours a week | 42p | 55p | £109 |
| Halogen heater | 1,200 W | 1 kWh /hour | 4 hours a day · about 100 days a year | 26p | 31p | £104 |
| Dehumidifier | 300 W | 0.3 kWh /hour | 6 hours a day · about 180 days a year | 8p | 8p | £85 |
| Fridge freezer | 100 W | 0.8 kWh /day | always on | 21p | 3p | £76 |
| Dishwasher | — | 1.1 kWh /cycle | 5 cycles a week | 29p | — | £75 |
| Chest freezer | 90 W | 0.7 kWh /day | always on | 18p | 2p | £67 |
| Kettle | 3,000 W | 0.11 kWh /boil | 6 boils a day | 3p | 78p | £63 |
| Washing machine | — | 0.8 kWh /load | 4 loads a week | 21p | — | £43 |
| Games console | 200 W | 0.2 kWh /hour | 2 hours a day | 5p | 5p | £38 |
| Television | 90 W | 0.09 kWh /hour | 4 hours a day | 2p | 2p | £34 |
| Slow cooker | 200 W | 0.7 kWh /use | 3 uses a week | 18p | 5p | £29 |
| Air fryer | 1,500 W | 0.5 kWh /meal | 4 meals a week | 13p | 39p | £27 |
| WiFi router | 10 W | 0.24 kWh /day | always on | 6p | 0p | £23 |
| Heated throw | 120 W | 0.12 kWh /hour | 4 hours a day · about 150 days a year | 3p | 3p | £19 |
| Microwave | 900 W | 0.15 kWh /use | 7 uses a week | 4p | 23p | £14 |
| Hair dryer | 2,000 W | 0.13 kWh /use | 7 uses a week | 3p | 52p | £12 |
| Electric blanket | 100 W | 0.1 kWh /hour | 2 hours a night · about 120 days a year | 3p | 3p | £6 |
| Toaster | 1,200 W | 0.04 kWh /use | 7 uses a week | 1p | 31p | £4 |
Cost per hour is the appliance drawing its full rated power. Thermostatic appliances — fridges, heaters, hot tubs — switch on and off, so their real hourly average is lower; the yearly column reflects that real consumption. Appliances sold by the cycle (dishwasher, washing machine) have no steady hourly draw, shown as “—”.
The 10 most expensive to run
At typical usage, per year.
- 1.Hot tub£477/yr
- 2.Immersion heater£429/yr
- 3.Electric heater£313/yr
- 4.Oil-filled radiator£188/yr
- 5.Tumble dryer£183/yr
- 6.Electric shower£114/yr
- 7.Gaming PC£114/yr
- 8.Electric oven£109/yr
- 9.Halogen heater£104/yr
- 10.Dehumidifier£85/yr
The 8 cheapest to run
The ones not worth worrying about.
- 25.Toaster£4/yr
- 24.Electric blanket£6/yr
- 23.Hair dryer£12/yr
- 22.Microwave£14/yr
- 21.Heated throw£19/yr
- 20.WiFi router£23/yr
- 19.Air fryer£27/yr
- 18.Slow cooker£29/yr
The appliances people underestimate
The pattern is simple: anything that turns electricity straight into heat is expensive to run.
How these figures are worked out
Every figure on this page comes from one calculation, applied consistently. The energy an appliance uses, in kilowatt-hours, is multiplied by the electricity unit rate — 26.11p per kWh, the Ofgem price cap for 1 July – 30 September 2026, VAT included. Nothing here is a guess dressed up as data.
- Cost per use is the energy for one cycle, hour, boil or day multiplied by the unit rate.
- Cost per hour is the rated power (watts ÷ 1,000) multiplied by the unit rate — the cost while the appliance draws full power.
- Cost per year is the cost per use multiplied by a typical usage pattern, shown in the table for each appliance. Seasonal appliances — heaters, dehumidifiers, electric blankets — are costed over the months they are actually used, not a full 365 days, because costing a winter heater year-round is exactly the kind of scary-but-wrong number this site exists to avoid.
- Figures are for typical mid-range modern appliances. An older machine can use half as much again. Standing charges are excluded — they are fixed and do not depend on which appliance you switch on.
The unit rate is the one thing here that moves — the Ofgem cap changes every three months — so this page is refreshed each period. It was last checked on 2026-08-26. Every appliance links to its own page, where you can enter your machine’s wattage, your own habits and your actual tariff.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most expensive appliance to run in the UK?
A hot tub, at roughly £477 a year, because it is kept warm every day whether you use it or not. Among everyday appliances, an immersion heater and a tumble dryer are the biggest costs. The full ranking is in the table above.
How much does electricity cost per kWh right now?
26.11p per kWh, including VAT, under the Ofgem energy price cap for 1 July – 30 September 2026. The cap is reviewed every three months, so this page is updated each period. Standing charges are separate and are not included in these running costs.
How do you work out what an appliance costs to run?
Multiply the energy it uses, in kilowatt-hours (kWh), by the unit rate — here 26.11p. A 2,000W appliance run for one hour uses 2 kWh, so it costs about 52p. Cost per year is the cost per use multiplied by how often you use it.
Which appliances do people most underestimate?
Tumble dryers, electric showers, hot tubs and immersion heaters. All four convert electricity directly into heat, which is the expensive thing to do with it — while low-wattage gadgets people worry about, like a WiFi router or a phone charger, cost almost nothing.
Can I cite or reuse these figures?
Yes. The data is free to use with a link back to this page. Figures are recalculated every Ofgem price-cap period so a citation stays current.
None of these is the big number
Every appliance here put together is still less than heating the house. That is where the real money is, and where a heat pump can move the number by hundreds of pounds a year — up or down, depending on your radiators. That is the sum worth an afternoon of your attention.
Work out your heating cost