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.

I used to have a Lakeland heated airer with a cover and would load it up and leave it on overnight (so around 12 hours). That's how long it took to get everything dry.

So that works out at around 3.6 kWh - exactly the same as running my tumble dryer twice!

The blanket I’ve ordered says it’s 120watts.

My tumble dryer is 300w. It takes 2 hours to dry a load, so cheaper to run than the heated airer.

12 hours? That's a lot! If you put a normal aurer in airy space, it will not take too much longer, is it

Are you sure it isn't missing 0? I don't think I saw tumble dryer under 2kwh! Can you share yours because people will snap that up

I might have that wrong. I’ll check. It’s a spanking new and very efficient dryer.

I meant kWh rather than w.

Ok I have carried out a boil-off.

500ml water
3kw electric kettle 80 seconds
3kw biggest gas burner (in a light aluminium lidded pan) 200 seconds

Gas takes 2.5 times as long so is not very efficient.
Electricity is 51/15 = 2.7 times more expensive (in October)

I conclude they are practically the same!

Well. I’ve just put the tumble dryer on, it’s raining here, and my smart meter was running at 500w (I had the oven on) and when I put the tumble dryer on it went up to 1.1 kw. So that means the dryer is 600w?

@Bubblebubblebah it usually took that long when it was fully loaded, every rail used up. It does sound like a long time I know!

Thanks @NotMeNoNo , that’s confirmed my gut instincts about them being roughly the same.

What a useful thread.

My tumble dryer is 2200W. Are my maths correct here?

2200W = 2.2kWh (?) x 0.5189p/kWh (my Oct charge) = £1.14 per hour in use?

Your maths is correct!

It is true. Mine is 300w or 0.3kwh per hour. Samsung heat pump.

Earlier on thread I also showed a graph of how much it used. 2 full loads were dried in just under 4 hrs for 1.1kwh. So 0.55kwh per large load, just under 2hr each.

And I am shocked to confirm that it is cheaper per hour and faster to dry than my dehumidifier on Laundry mode, which is 0.6kwh. The eco mode is the same at 0.3kwh, but probably slower to dry a large load than tumble dryer.

Yes, mine is a heat pump one. It cost £500 mind you.

I started a similar thread a while ago on Chat

Hope it helps

www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4600620-the-true-cost-of-running-electrical-devices-a-useful-guide?

So important people understand about energy - I sometimes describe it as a journey. You can go at high speed but a short journey (e.g. a powerful kettle to boil water) or a low speed but a long journey e.g. a light being in for a long time.

Ultimately, it's the distance travelled that counts.

I have an energy monitor that lets me see how much energy a device actually uses when running.

Very useful.

Thank you @paulmccartneysbagel
While £1+ a load is ridiculous I was afraid it would be more like £3. Our DD is projected to increase to £430/month!!! So I had better work out where the other £420ish is coming from...

Just checked my fridge freezer. 359kWh a year apparently... at 52p/kWh that will be £180 a year.
Good job I love it!

Very interesting about the tumble dryers! Thanks!

What I was do you have @cakeorwine

and do you just plug into device

many suggest smart plugs To turn stuff off but would like to know what fish tank costs to run for example with pump heater in 24/7 and light 12/24

So £15 a monthly @comfortablyfrumpy 🙀🙀

American style? Yeah. Mine is lucky it's so practical.
"Normal" sized fridge freezers eat less

I can’t believe a heat pump tumble drier can do a load for 0.6kwh! (Not accusing anyone of lying! I mean why isn’t this all over everything? It’s incredible). God it might actually be worth investing in one because I’m so worried about getting stuff dry without mine when we are also going to have to cut down a lot on having the heating on.

I think they must vary. I just checked our A++ energy rated heat pump tumble drier (AEG lavatherm 8000) and it’s 1.99 kWh to dry a full load of cottons. So just over £1 at October rates.

It’s much better than I thought (I would have guessed £3-4, but I forgot it was a heat pump 😳) but significantly worse than @hedgehoglurker ’s 0.6kWh.

It also goes to show how important it is to check! I was all set to buy the dehumidifier mentioned earlier, but at a saving of only 25p per load, and roughly 4 loads per week, it would take over 3 years to pay for itself.

A further benefit of the heat pump drier is that it generates a small amount of heat into the house, so that probably offsets any saving elsewhere.