Save money using your electrical appliances

If you want to use less electricity and save money on your bill, it’s important to know how much your electrical appliances cost to run. You can save money by:

• finding ways to use them less

• changing the settings to save electricity

• checking if your electricity is cheaper at different times of the day - for example, at night

Don't stop using essential appliances

It's important to look after your physical and mental health. You should:

• keep your fridge freezer on to keep food fresh - and for any medication you need to keep cold

• keep the room you’re in well lit so you can move around safely and reduce the risk of mental health conditions like depression

• keep your home warm enough so there’s less risk of your home becoming damp and you getting ill

• keep using any extractor fans in the bathroom and kitchen to prevent condensation and mould

Check the average cost of using your appliances

Electrical appliances that get hot are usually the most expensive to use - for example, the appliances you use to:

• heat your home and your water

• wash and dry things

• cook food

Appliances that only produce light or sound are usually less expensive - for example, entertainment devices or computers.

How we’ve estimated the cost of using appliances

We've based the cost of using appliances on a ‘unit rate’ of 25p. The unit rate is the price you pay per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity you use. The unit rate for your household might be higher or lower. Check your energy bill if you’re not sure.

We've based the energy usage for most appliances on:

• how fast the appliance uses electricity - known as the 'power rating'

• the typical amount of time people use the appliance

It’s harder to work out exact costs for some appliances. For example, fridges, freezers, ovens, washing machines and tumble dryers use electricity at different rates during their cycle. The estimated costs take this into account.

You can use our appliances tool to compare the average cost of using different electrical appliances.

Check if it’s cheaper to use your appliances at different times

You might pay different rates for your electricity at different times of the day. It depends on your agreement with your energy supplier.

This kind of agreement is called a 'time of use' tariff. The most common time of use tariff is 'Economy 7', but there are other examples like 'Economy 10'.

If you don’t have a time of use tariff, your electricity will be the same price all day and night.

Check what tariff you’re on

You usually have a time of use tariff if you use electricity to heat your home or get hot water.

Check your electricity bill. If you’re on a time of use tariff, you’ll see:

• 2 or more prices ‘per kWh’ for your electricity - they might be called the ‘day’ and ‘night’ rate or the ‘peak’ and ‘off-peak’ rate

• 2 or more sets of electricity meter readings

Electricity costs more during peak times and less during off-peak times.

Talk to your electricity supplier if you’re not sure what tariff you’re on.

If you have a radio teleswitch meter

If you have a time of use tariff, you might have an electricity meter that uses a radio signal to switch between peak and off-peak rates. These are called radio teleswitch (RTS) or dynamically teleswitched (DTS) meters.

You’ll need to have your RTS or DTS meter replaced. This is because the radio signal is being switched off.

Your electric heating and hot water could stop working if you don’t have your meter replaced before the radio signal is turned off.

Check if you need to replace your meter.

Check when your electricity is cheaper

The exact times depend on your supplier, your tariff and or where you live - contact your supplier if you’re not sure.

Your off-peak times might change when the clocks change. For example, if you’re on Economy 7, your off-peak times might be midnight to 7am in winter. They would change to 1am to 8am when the clocks go forward in March.

Use your appliances during cheaper times

Time of use tariffs usually give you cheaper electricity for appliances. If you can, try to use your appliances during off-peak times to save money. You could use a timer plug to set them to come on in the morning or evening, outside of peak times. 

Don't set appliances like washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers to run while you're asleep - this is a fire risk.

Save money using your appliances

There are things you can do to reduce the amount of electricity your appliances use and save money on your bill.

Check the cost of using light bulbs

The most energy efficient bulbs are light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. Compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs are another type of energy efficient bulb.

Halogen bulbs and incandescent bulbs are older types of bulb that are more expensive to use. You often find halogen bulbs used as spotlights in kitchens. 

If you used a light for 3 hours a day:

• an LED bulb would cost around £2 a year

• a CFL bulb would cost around £4 a year

• a halogen bulb would cost around £11 a year

• an incandescent bulb would cost around £16 a year

LED bulbs are the most expensive to buy, but they last much longer than other types of bulb. For example, an LED bulb can last over 10 years, but a halogen bulb lasts around 2 years.

Unplugging appliances instead of using standby

Standby costs make up only a small amount of a household's electricity bill. 

How much it costs to leave your appliances or devices on standby depends on how many you have and how efficient they are. A typical UK household spends around £65 a year on standby costs - just over £5 a month.

It’s a good idea to start by unplugging any appliance or device you’re not using. But it’s important to think about which devices you might want to leave on - for example:

• a set-top TV box that records TV programmes

• your wifi router - so it can receive security updates and keep other devices connected to the internet

• your fridge freezer to keep food fresh - and for any medication you need to keep cold

Buy a more energy efficient appliance

If you're thinking about buying a new appliance, you might want to choose a more energy efficient one. This means they use less energy and cost less to run.

You can check if you can save money by buying a more energy efficient appliance.

Get accurate costs for using your appliances

You can use an energy monitor to get a more accurate measure of how much your appliances cost to use.

There are energy monitors that can measure: 

• how much electricity your whole home is using

• how much electricity a single appliance is using

Using an energy monitor for your whole home

If you have a smart meter, you’ll usually have an in-home display that shows how much electricity you’re currently using. 

If you don’t have a smart meter, you can get an energy monitor that clips to your electricity meter. You can then see how much electricity you’re using on a separate screen or smartphone app.

By checking how much electricity your whole home is using, you can see how your usage is affected when you use certain appliances.

Find out how to use your smart meter in-home display to save energy.

Using an energy monitor for a single appliance

A plug-in energy monitor plugs into a socket, then you plug your appliance into the energy monitor. 

It shows you how much electricity the appliance is using - either on a screen on the monitor itself or through a smartphone app.

Some plug-in energy monitors let you enter the rate you pay for your electricity. This means they can show you how much the electricity is costing you.

If you need help with bills or the cost of living

If you can’t afford your energy bills, you can check our advice on what to do if you’re struggling to pay.

If you don’t have enough money to live on, you can also get help with the cost of living.