The true cost of running electrical devices - a useful guide?

[cakeorwine]

I did a thread a while ago on electrical devices - even more relevant now with the coming increase in energy costs.

This might be useful for people to get an idea of what it costs to run devices.

These calculations are based on a unit of electricity being 45p / KWH which is what it could be in October (it's currently about 27p / KWH)

A 1 watt device run for 1000 hours uses 1 unit of energy.

There are 8760 hours in a year - so that 8.76 units of energy = £3.90

For context, my Alexa is about 3 watts and it's on all the time - so it would cost 3 * £3.90 = about £12 a year to run.

A TV is between 50 - 100 watts.

So if a 100 watt TV was run for 10 hours, that's 1 unit (100 10) - so about 45p per 10 hours or 4.5p per hour*

A hairdryer is about 1500 watts (on high speed, high heat). So in 1 hour, it's used 1.5 units or 67p. - so about 1p a minute

A PlayStation 5 on active gaming is about 200 watts - so in 5 hours, it's used about 1 unit - so 8p per hour

An electric shower - about 10 kilowatts, so in 1 hour (full speed, full heat) - it's used £4.50 - so about 7p a minute

Just a few examples - but you can see how devices use energy

Standby mode is very good now - about 1 watt - so a device on standby will use about £4 per year. Obviously lots of devices on standby do add up.

I am sure people can post other examples. It's just useful to know where your energy goes.

I listened to a BBC Soubds podcast called Sliced Bread which found air fryers to be about 50% energy use of a comparable oven cook (for jacket potatoes and chicken!). They did say it depends on capacity though, as in, if you're cooking a whole oven full that would take multiple runs of the air fryer so you'd lose the saving.

As others of said, we took a long hard look at how long the appliances were on per day and week as well.
A kettle may take a lot of energy, but it is only on for short blasts of time.

Meant to also link to this re standing charges.

www.theguardian.com/money/2022/mar/06/why-is-my-standing-charge-up-by-80-energy-firms-pile-on-the-agony

We spent 90 minutes yesterday turning the consumer unit right off then turning on a circuit at a time and testing the usage on individual appliances. Let's just say it was eye-opening and DH is having to accept that his futuristic dream of having everything linked together and automated is bleeding electricty in a vast number of directions. This morning, all the google accoutrements are unplugged and the printer is on a timer device

I did similar. It was interesting - especially the set top box.

I do think that there are a lot of people out there who could make some changes and save money and usage - knowing what a device is using can be a bit of an eye opener

There are several links to lists of how much each appliance costs.
This is one
www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/cost-of-living/what-costs-most-run-appliances-6890941

Not sure how accurate all the links are. Part of the reason for buying the gizmo[sorry dont know where it is right now, but can prob find out its name if anyone needs me to]

what surprised me a bit was quite how many electricals we have and use. Which also included out buildings.

what surprised me a bit was quite how many electricals we have and use. Which also included out buildings

Have you done a spreadsheet

I would add to this with a cost saving tip to keep your kettle clean of limescale - just time how much longer it takes to boil a clean kettle than one clogged up with limescale, it makes a big difference.

Also boiling a 'thimbleful' of water each time isn't that good for the kettle, and you could end up shortening the life of your kettle rather than putting a small amount more, getting a nice cuppa and making your kettle last longer!

Using thermos water is not only not a cost saver, but gives you a crap cuppa. It would be better to think in terms of how much you can save by making a nice cuppa at home instead of being ripped off in Costa or Nero or Starbucks which really does represent a true 100% cost saving. Think how many nice cups of tea or coffee you can make at home which are piping hot water for only a few pence, than £3.00+ - a cappuccino is 50% froth and often lukewarm by the time you get it - they are rip off merchants, that's why they're rolling in profit!

What uses the most electric out of interest? Washing machine?

Every washing machine I've ever owned has had the typical energy use for each program in the manual.

My Samsung appliances show it in the smart things app, below is my tumble dryer.

I don't know what kind of kettle you were using @Natsku but I have been watching my smart meter for months now and my kettle costs me about 2p to boil and that includes the other things going on the smart meter at the same time. My dishwasher costs about 40p. My washing machine is about 45p.

I use the microwave, not the electric kettle, to boil water for one cup of tea.

That's an interesting question - it's a matter of energy consumption and time it's being consumed.

I like to describe it as a journey with energy in watts being the speed.

So a kettle - well it goes very fast (high wattage) but it only has a short distance to go to do it's job (units of power)

Whereas a light - it goes very slowly (low wattage) but it can go a long distance as they can be on for a long time.

The electric shower is a good example - it has a high speed (high watts) and it can go far as it's left on for a long time. But if you lower the time you use it for, then it doesn't go as far so the overall cost can be reduced.

So the cost of running a device is equal to the distance travelled.

I feel there is a You Tube video with that analogy.

DH and I discussed heat pumps tumble dryers etc. he is adamant they are obsolete as if they stop working, there is literally no one qualified to repair them. They are prone to faults and cannot be fixed so pointless. I have no idea if he's correct but would love an opinion on them from some in the know.

My washing machine costs me 20p on a cool wash. 40p on a 40 degree wash. It’s an eco friendly one that heats the water rather than using our hot water

Can anyone help with the cost of using the microwave rather than the oven to cook? Say 5 mins in micro rather than 45 in the oven?

Use a lower temperature for mixed loads. So instead of 40 use 30 or 20 instead of 30.

Don't do it for bedding, towels and other items that need to be washed at 60 to have the bugs on them properly killed.

And still randomly run a hot wash to kill the bugs in the machine.

Also I use a tumble dryer to part dry towels and it cost me 30p

It's an excellent thread to reduce the costs.

Microwave is better than the oven.

Use boiling water from a kettle for pasta.

The real reason for price rises are the standing charges. Those charges are beyond your control and should be capped.

If I boil too much water ( although I try not to) I put whats left in a thermos and then reboil that for the next cuppa or for cooking etc .. seems to me that in the end you must use less electricity that way as the water you start off with is hotter..

I have a gas oven/hob. Over the past 6 months I have bought an optigrill and an instant pot duo crisp which is essentially an air friar as well as a pressure cooker, slow cooker etc.

Presumably the grill is going to use less energy as it grills both sides at once, and I’ve read the air friar/pressure cooker is more energy efficient. But how does that stack up if you’re looking at electric vs gas?

I googled and got old articles - www.thesun.co.uk/money/16422941/how-much-does-it-cost-to-run-a-microwave/

But it's obvious a microwave will use less power than an electric oven.

However I have a gas oven because years ago when I was a student I house shared with engineers and they had "fun" working out the costs of running different appliances. The summary was to heat things - so water, food and rooms - using gas rather than electricity because it was cheaper.

You will not make a dent in the standing charges.

You will reduce the electric and gas by under £400 per year at a very long stretch.

The standing charge, which you have no control over, will be above £1000 per year.

Ovens are complicated as they warm up and then maintain a heat. With my analogy, they run quite quickly and then walk a bit with occasional bursts of speed to do the journey!

Whereas microwaves run at the same speed for the distance - so constant watts

A 1500 watt microwave on full power will use 1.5 units in an hour - so that's 0.075 units in 5 minutes. - about 3p on the predicted new rate.

The money the Government is giving you in October is basically a subsidy to pay for the standing charge.

This Government is subsidising extortionate charges that should be immediately capped under emergency situations.