Yet another article in the Daily Express with incorrect running costs - a fridge does not cost £3.40 a day to run

[cakeorwine]

This is the article from the Daily Express

Dishwashers

According to the experts, the majority usage on your energy bills will come from the wet household appliances, such as dishwashers and washing machines. They shared: “The average dishwasher cycle lasts around an hour and a half, but some lower quality ones can run from two to four hours. Running a dishwasher is one of the most expensive household appliances, using around 3.3 kWh of energy.
“It's possible to estimate how much energy each appliance uses by multiplying its power rating in kW by the number of minutes/hours it’s left on. Wattage information should be on the label or in any manual that comes with your appliance.
“For example, a dishwasher may have a power rating of 2200W (there are 1000W in a kW). If you run it for 90 minutes it uses 3.3 kWh, costing around £1.12 for a 90 minute cycle. Here are the workings of the equation: 2.2 x 90/60 = 3.3kWh.”

Fridges

On average, fridges and freezers will account for around 13 percent of your household’s energy bill, according to Energy Saving Trust. The average fridge/freezer will stay on 24/7, with a Wattage of 400, using around 9.6 kWh of energy per day.

Ovens:

"The average wattage of an oven is around 3kW, meaning it uses around 1kwh if run for around 20 minutes, which is about 34p."

Washing machines

Washing machines and dishwashers account for around 14 percent of a typical energy bill. On average, a typical washing machine will run from around 45 to 90 minutes.

A washing machine will have a similar power rating to a dishwasher, with an average rating of 2200W. Typically, though, the running cycle for a washing machine would be shorter, therefore costing less per cycle.

On an average 2200W washing machine, the appliance will use about 2.2kWh of energy if running for an hour, which will cost around 75p, says the pros. Again, households should avoid half-loads and opt for a grade A energy-efficiency

...........................................................................................................

So what are the issues?

They tried. They really tried. They looked at the wattage of a fridge / freezer - about 400 watts and then said, hey, it's on 24 /7 so that's going to be 0.4 kWh every hour, so 24 * 0.4 a day = 9.6 kWh - so £3.26

Mathematically correct - but scientifically inaccurate as the fridge / freezer is not constantly running at that wattage.

Also - that would be about 3600 kWh a year of electricity a year just for a fridge / freezer. Which is strange as the average electricity use is 2900 kWH for all devices.

And also a surprise as the article also says "On average, fridges and freezers will account for around 13 percent of your household’s energy bill, according to Energy Saving Trust"

The other devices are not running at that wattage constantly. It fluctuates a lot - especially with the fridge / freezer. A fridge uses between 400 - 600 kWh a year (about 1 - 2kWh a day) A freezer uses about 200 - 300 kWh a year (about 0.8 kWh a day)

This kind of article is dangerous - especially the fridge advice - as it will worry people and get them to turn their fridge off for a time. Which is dangerous for food safety.

I think that media that publishes false information like this should face a punishment.

I have a Smart Meter. It's easy to see when the fridge is running as

a) You can hear it
b) The monitor goes up to reflect the fact that it's working.

My typical background usage is 33 watts. When the fridge goes on, the power use goes up. And then goes down when the fridge turns off.

As someone with a science background, I can read meters very well. Years of training

I use approx 5 kwh of electricity per day at theoment. I have a fridge freezer. I agree with OP, this sort of inaccurate reporting is dangerous.

Luckily, you don't need to.

Just do a few simple sums.

I have read about people turning off their fridges because they are worried about the running costs. This could cause food hygiene issues.

I read an article about a family who have turned off all their lights and use head torches in the house. This could increase the chances of accidents in the house.

Information about the running costs of devices is useful - but it needs to be accurate. There are people who take these articles at face value - especially if an 'expert' writes them.

So if any journalists are reading this - then please think about what you write. Or maybe write an article about the articles and misreporting. But try and get that accurate.

You MUST know it's inaccurate. Our energy bills are only £90 a month for gas and electric so our fridge absolutely costs nowhere near that amount.

I read the Express to see what other people are being exposed to.

😂

Any comments on what YOU think are the RUNNING costs of such appliances?

(Anyone who READS the Daily Express will know what I did there)

I don't understand why people question you on something so logical🙄

Some should visit the old thread with "how much does it cost to run".

Surprised the newspapers are on it again even after having 2 print corrections twice!

Is Gumreduction the author there😂

You are NOT unreasonable to worry as well. I overheard a conversation at the bus stop with an elderly man saying he'd given his fridge away and was now buying meat everyday and "should probably be alright".

As usual it's mainly elderly people who rely on newspapers for their information with the outside world, being frightened into bad ideas by totally careless journalism

😂

I can think of worse things than being a journalist for national! But sadly no…. Finance here

And not terribly exciting finance at that!

Nope, just enjoying the thread 😊

"A fridge does not cost £3.40 a day to run"

No, but it makes for a more dramatic article, which seems to be the main driver for too much of the MSM

@Gumreduction is just stiring it up so take no notice.

What OP says is perfectly correct and you don't need anything more than basic commonsense & arithmetic to work out the cost of running an appliance yourself.
As the OP says, a very poorly written & inaccurate article. Anything else is just going off at an irelevant tangent.

I am pleased they didn't do this with heaters.

Heaters are about 2000 watts. If you have a temperature controlled one, it only runs when it's below the temperature you set it at.

There are choices to be made when it comes to how you use your appliances. But you need to know what it does cost to run a device so you can make choices that are right for you.

Actually the whole point is that common sense and arithmetic won't enable you to work out the cost. The Daily Express have used published data and simple arithmetic but have failed to understand exactly how appliances work. Common sense and a few data points about utility bills will tell you that they can't possibly be right, but won't tell you what the answer should be.

Basic numeracy I think

It's the same as people buying solar lights or sitting in darkness when LED lights cost literally pennies to run a month. Pointless but a lot of people just don't 'get' it, and sadly the Venn diagram of 'people who don't get it' and 'journalists' seems to have a big overlap.

Saw someone fretting about their bill and talking about not putting lights on and having a go at their kids for an hour on the XBox and they were bloody running a hot tub!

Yes. For that tenner they spent they could have run all lightbulbs in a house for a year🙄

The article also talks about putting a washing machine on a shorter cycle to use less energy, completely overlooking the fact that the eco cycles (designed specifically to use less energy) are typically much longer.

It's baffling that the author didn't apply any sense checking. "Okay, so I put these numbers into the calculator, and... tap tap tap £3.40 per day. Wait a minute... that's over a grand a year. That can't be right. Something's gone wrong here." I can understand not being able to figure out WHAT has gone wrong, and especially what the right answer is, but failing to spot that the answer you've come up with is obvious bollocks is pretty indefensible.

I've taken electric meter readings as we're away for a few days, but have left the fridge and freezers on, nothing else. I'll check the readings when I go back and I'll work out roughly how much they used.
I'll report back.

Goodness me! The person who wrote the article clearly has never seen an electricity bill! Perhaps they've always lived in rented accommodation where the utilities are included in in the rent.

Anyone who pays for their own electricity usage will know immediately that the stated figures simply cannot possibly be correct!

typical gutter press and “journalist” can’t be bothered doing their research. Stuff like this is just the tip of the iceberg..