The “how much does this cost to run” thread?

[AtomicBlondeRose]

Based on posts about people thinking of using candles instead of electric lights - which is both dangerous and not likely to save any money, I’d like to set this thread up as a place where people can ask how much items in their house cost to run, to let posters make informed decisions about whether or not to keep using them after energy price rises.

If you want to ask, useful information to have is: the energy usage of the item - eg a heater might say on it that it’s 1000w. If you don’t know that the name/model number as accurately as possible. Also to give you a useful estimate it would be good to know your current gas/electricity price tariff price per unit. However it’s easy enough to work out at current and predicted price cap levels.

I can’t promise to answer everything so please can I call upon other numerate MNers to help out? I think this could be a real lifesaver.

Not here. I think Alexa's do about 2w on standby and I like to shout shopping list at it from other side of the room as I remember so having to turn it off would just make it redundant for half of the main functions in here.

Thanks @LegoLady95 I have ordered and coming tomorrow via prime

I’ve looked at a few but this seems the easiest

I shall plug into fish tank as sure the 6 🙀 plugs are draining it

tho even if are doubt dh will get rid of it but I can make my point why our daily use seems to be higher than most other users

Is this definitely correct? Surely if my house was target below temp and the boiler was working to heat it, it would remain fully on until target temp was reached?

Im trying to follow this thread but im actually more confused than ever. We are a low income family and we've lived frugally for years. Ive always been good with stretching money and almost all the tips I've been reading are just what we've always done. So there's nowhere to go to find the extra hundreds of pounds we will need. I will still be very careful but there's no way im sitting with my family freezing in this west of Scotland where it always rains, just because this bastard of a tory government can't or wont do anything unless it profits them. So ive resigned myself to the fact for the first time in 40 years since leaving home I'll need to be in debt. Apart from my mortgage i dave up for everything but i cant save anymore for this.

So debt it is.

@FayeGovan don't be afraid to ask about what is confusing to you. No judgment here and maybe it will help?

I've thought about it.

We have 5 of the buggers and leaving them all on 24/7 will cost about £110 a year at next year's prices.

For the moment, I've used some smart plugs to turn them off overnight so that's down to £75 a year. Still...

Indeed your boiler may run at 24kw when it's actually heating the water but it won't need to heat the water all the time to keep your house at the right temperature - at some point you will hear that it stops working

Of course if you only put it on for an hour a day and it's really cold your house may not get to temperature so it may work af the 24kw for the full hour - but they other 23 hrs it would be 0

So over the day in that case 24 kw for one hour which is about £1.68

Or if you left it on all day it might only run for say 2 or 3 hrs in total

messiah that much? I wasn't planning on turning them off but maybe I will

Thanks Lego I have ordered one, going to share it around my family as well.

Faye I honestly don't know how many people will find the money. We were just comfortable so very lucky to have always been able to heat the house (we've never been wasteful) but this winter we have to make significant cuts, but being able to make cuts is already a privilege. How you make cuts when everything is already to the bone I have no idea.

Found this for Alexas. 4th gen I think is less than 1w?
I have 2 so not that bad plus I really use the mic function. Lazy me

messiah that much? I wasn't planning on turning them off but maybe I will

I think so. All ours are early gens so may use more than newer ones. I've clocked them all at about 3w when just sat there doing nothing.

@midgetastic yes that’s right according to my hive the boiler is flaming between 3-6 hours a day in winter (old house).
Can you take a look at my calc as I got a lot higher, I was thinking if it’s on for a solid hour it would be 24 x 12.7p (oct) = £3.05/hour that it’s fully on.
From Jan it looked like a further 50% rise or more so maybe £3.05 x 1.5 = £4.50/hour?

Not sure if this has already been answered, but I plugged an energy monitor into an alexa this afternoon and played an audio book. It ran at 2W, and in half an hour racked up less than 0.1p at October's rates, so I'll be using it as much as I like!

(Disclaimer) I'm not a plumber but I believe combi boilers can modulate/vary the heat output to lower kW just to keep the heating ticking over. Smart meter/meter readings is the most accurate way to measure use as it may vary through the day depending on inside/outside temperatures, radiator valves etc.

Thanks. Im trying to work out the cost of this electric patio heater. It says power consumption 2000W. On 1st setting its 650w. On 2nd setting 1300w. On highest setting 2000w. I want to use it in ds's room instead of putting the heating on.

How do i work out how much it will be in October, im not on a fixed rate. And how do i work it out?

@FayeGovan it's going to be about 50p a kWh in October.

So a 2000w device uses 2kwh per hour. Or £1 an hour.

At 1000w setting that's 50p an hour.

@FayeGovan it can be very dangerous to use a patrol heater indoors, even an electric one, because they are design your give out a more intensive heat which can be a fire risk in an enclosed space.

@FayeGovan please don't use a patio heater inside, agree with above it would be very dangerous.

Does anyone know whether it is cheaper to make a batch of (e.g) chilli on the (gas) stove that would do 3 or 4 meals, freeze it and then reheat in the microwave, or cook each meal separately in an Instant Pot? Trying to work it out but it’s hurting my head. I think stove then microwave? Assuming gas stove is on for about an hour?

Oh gosh i didnt know its dangerous, thanks for letting me know.

I think it depends on heater type but this would be on highest settings absolutely.

I have 500w one (indoor one) for single room and it's doing grand job tbh. Very cheap to run as well.

Can anyone recommend a heater for a small bedroom? Ds works till late and i dont want him coming home wet from cycling into a cold damp room at midnight.

I have this one but it's bit pricey so if you are looking to save cheaper would be better.
www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/epph5w/electriq-epph5w?refsource=apadwords&mkwid=_dm&pcrid=&pkw=&pmt=&slid=&pgrid=&ptaid=&cpgnid=17997540423&channel=&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjbyYBhCdARIsAArC6LI9q1Xc0fU2nRSQel830SEVpFdtvZP7TQt1vUHeM6oOw1OnS02bl0oaAoOGEALw_wcB

Thanks but its a bit too big, dont really have the wall space for that. I was thinking maybe a small oil filled heater?

We’ve got these

De'Longhi TRNS0505M Oil Filled Radiator - White amzn.eu/d/irQS1fn

They are fantastic. We had no boiler last winter. I used these in the kids rooms. On for a half hour before bed and the room was warm but not too warm. So that would be 0.25kWh, or about 12p

The link says its 500w. How did you work out that calculation @iwishiwasafish ?