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.

Xbox - for @AntlerRose

This varies a lot but I found that an Xbox Series X, while it is being played on, uses 153W.

Current prices: 4.3p/hour
October prices: 8p/hour

in standby mode it uses basically no electricity at all (0.5W which is less than 10% of a lightbulb), and in Instant On mode it uses 13W - 0.4p/hour)

Screens are massively variable depending on the type of screen and size. I can work it out if I know the model!

@needastrongoneagain That is true BUT - if you only ever boil the right amount of water you need throughout the day it will cost the same as boiling a lot at once. And only use a flask you already have - buying one will wipe out any cost savings. Obviously storing excess water is a sensible idea but it’s not worth going to extremes to do this as it could cost you more!

I saw someone whose plan was to boil a full kettle in the morning, put it in a flask and use it all day. They couldn’t understand that this uses the same amount of energy as eg boiling a 1/3 full kettle 3 times.

Washing machine - this is worth looking up your own model for as they vary a lot but this is based on my aging Bosch machine and from the manual:

Programme/Current prices/October prices:

40 deg cotton - 0.65KWH - 18p/34p
40 deg Easycare - 0.5KWH - 14p/26p
60 deg cotton - 1.04KWH - 29p/54p

Thanks atomic, that's a really helpful clarification for me. No flask here but heard the tip on the radio, good to check specifics.

It depends on the type of tumble dryer!

My Samsung heat pump dryer uses the same energy as a heated airer - 0.3kwh per hour. A large 10kg load dries in 2 hours for 0.55kwh, current price cap 15p per load.

My graph shows 2 large loads dried in just under 4 hours cost me 19p total. However, I'm on a 16.9p fix still.

Ovens
“New ones do about 0.9kwh, air fryer 1.5. Different settings, different use of course + preheat time. While air fryer uses more, it takes considerably less time to cook things in it.

So on 15min "fry" you need 5 min preheat so 20 min on 28p - 9.3p
Oven needs 10-15 min preheat + longer cook time of about 30 min. - 19p”

Mine’s also 3kwh so I think this could be more usual, maybe if we say 2kwh. With the above example from October we have

airfryer cooking for 15 mins is 17p
2kwh oven cooking for 30 mins 35p

Depending how much you use it this can really add up. Cooking a casserole or roast isn’t possible in the air fryer but in my 3kwh oven its more like £1.50 for 1.5 hours.

Apparently a counter top halogen oven is faster and uses less electricity than a conventional oven but is larger than an air fryer so that could be an option for some

@hedgehoglurker - wow. That’s an amazing energy use and has actually made me consider a heat pump drier! My condenser uses over 5kwh for a load so it’s basically become too expensive to use.

My Bosch washing machine on a mixed load eco 30 degree cycle used 0.2kwh according to my gadget. The eco setting added 30 mins to the load but I guess agitated it less.

At October prices this is 0.2 x 56p / load = 11p
If I wash 6 times a week it’s £2.91 a month plus laundry powder.

Ive only just switched to 30 degrees so maybe I will do a cycle at 40 and come back and post.

I thought this table was useful for an overview for different appliances and their actual likely usage times.

Ovens are really hard to do because the energy use isn’t constant - they use more while heating up and the usage figures for gas ovens are ridiculously hard to find and work out!

However I have come to the conclusion that my air fryer costs roughly the same as my oven to use BUT the air fryer is hugely more effective - doesn’t need preheating (certainly nowhere near 5 minutes for mine) and takes about half the time to cook things. My gas oven is also very poor at heating up and I need to put it on 8 to get anything to cook properly so can’t be using energy efficiently.

@HairyKitty - that’s a good cycle. Mine doesn’t have an eco mode as it’s quite old.

It may seem counter intuitive that eco modes take longer. Remember that the biggest uses of energy are heating and cooling. An eco cycle on a washing machine uses cooler water and leaves the washing in the water for longer, rather than using heat and the action of the drum to get them clean.

Yes if what we want fits in air fryer that’s what I always use now. It’s also convenient compared with an oven esp for quick food for children

Is the eco programme on my washing machine which takes 4 hours more expensive than standard programme which takes 2 hours

My oven is 1.1kw. A Ninja Foodi Max air fryer is 1.7kw, some of the other models are 2.4kw. So the air fryer uses significantly more electric than the oven.
I haven't got an air fryer but I thought the point of them was that they cook things more quickly than an oven so they aren't on for as long.

@user1487194234 Do you have the make/model of your washing machine? There’s no way of knowing without it.

@HouseOfWaffles Yes, when I first got my air fryer I was always cremating things or putting dinner on the table half an hour earlier than I thought because it is just so much quicker than the oven. Sometimes I feel like it’s a sci-fi thing from a film - you just put your food in a little drawer and when you open it again there’s your dinner!

I guess it depends if eco on your machine means eco for electricity or water? Have you got the brand and model number maybe we could have a look?
Also is that the only eco cycle on your machine? Might be a different cycle uses less.

you just put your food in a little drawer and when you open it again there’s your dinner!

Sold!

Only popping on to say that we bought a rotary line earlier this year and it fits so many more clothes on versus out old straight washing line - so we have used it loads.

I've bought one of these weighted covers for it so that we can extend the outside drying season a bit - the plan isn't to doggedly put it outside in massive downpours and howling gales, but it should help on days when the forecast is a bit uncertain or you need to leave it out at night.

www.chimneysheep.co.uk/product/laundry-mac-outdoor-laundry-protector/

Plan is this as the default, existing heated airer rack if not doable outside, and for towels and bedding only tumble dryer to damp and finish off on heated airer

That is why i always assume they need stronger socket. Lots of power needed at once, then it comes down. Hence the consumption approx 0.85 on the example one I linked.

Absolutely brilliant thread. I’d love to know what this costs me to run as it’s my only source of heat during the day in my office and I already try and use sparingly over last winter, resorting to gloves, hot water bottles etc first.

www.currys.co.uk/products/logik-l15ofr20-portable-oilfilled-radiator-black-10206337.html

In our camper van we pre measure out 500ml bottles of water for the kettle, this is just enough for 2 mugs. Will try to do this at home too to avoid boiling excess water for tea.

@AllLopsided This may be similar. www.cnmonline.co.uk/de-longhi-ghibli-white-electric-towel-rail-with-fan.html
That one says the fan heater part is 1Kw.

Thank you for the xbox - its not as bad as i feared!

Ive decided the screen kicks out a lot of heat so must be using excessive energy and am looking for a new one on market place.

@EddieHowesBlackandWhiteArmy its 1500w with three settings which I assume are 500w, 1000w and 1500w

Low setting - current 14p/hr, October 26p/hr
Medium - 28p/52p
High - 42p/78p

Actual usage will be lower than this because once it gets up to temperature it will stop heating and the oil inside the radiator retains the heat for a while.