Electricity Cost Calculator

The maths is simple once you have the wattage and the unit rate. A 3,000W kettle boiled for five minutes uses 0.25 kWh. At 24.5p per kWh that is just over 6p per boil. Add it up: ten boils a day across a year is 912 kWh, around £223 just for the kettle. Most people are surprised by the kettle and the tumble dryer; both pull serious wattage even though they only run for short bursts.

The default in the tool, a 2,000W appliance running for two hours a day at 24.5p per kWh, works out to 4 kWh daily, or 98p a day, £6.86 a week, £29.40 a month and £357.70 a year. That figure is roughly what an electric heater costs to run all winter, or what a tumble dryer adds across a wet British year. Numbers like these tend to change behaviour faster than any green nudge ever has.

Standby loads matter less than people fear. A modern television in standby pulls under 1W. The real money goes on heat. Anything that converts electricity to heat (kettles, ovens, toasters, electric heaters, tumble dryers, hair dryers, immersion heaters) lands in the 1,500 to 3,000W range. The fridge runs at maybe 150W but cycles on and off all day, so its annual cost still creeps up to £80 or so.

Add multiple appliances in the calculator and the total household running cost emerges. A common pattern: gaming PC running four hours an evening (£179 a year), a tumble dryer used three times a week (£140 a year), and an electric shower used daily (£200 to £300 a year). Spotting these is the first step. The next is deciding which ones you genuinely cannot do without.