These are the worst culprits for draining your household energy – and your pockets
UK households are being warned of the five worst ‘energy-draining’ everyday appliances that could be adding hundreds of pounds to your energy bills each year.
Heating our homes accounts for the biggest portion of a typical annual energy bill at around 40 percent of the total energy spend for the average household, according to Rightmove.
But there are certain appliances that most of us use day-to-day that can also have a significant impact on our energy use and costs.
According to Energy Saving Trust, washing machines, dishwashers and tumble dryers make up for 14 percent of a typical energy bill, while fridges and freezers take up around 13 percent.
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Electronics like TVs and laptops make up about 6 percent and lighting accounts for around 5 percent.
Rightmove has looked at the common household appliances to see how much they’d cost to run for an hour, on average, or for a typical cooking cycle.
These figures will vary based on how energy efficient your appliance is to begin with, because higher-rated appliances will consume less energy.
“As a general rule, anything that generates heat will have a higher running cost, as is the case with the appliances listed below. These things could be adding the most to your energy bill, depending on how often you use them,” Rightmove says.
The five home appliances adding the most to your energy bill:
Electric shower – £2.20 per hour
The electric shower is the most energy-intensive appliance in many homes.
Based on typical usage of about 144 hours per year, electric showers cost around £315 to run annually.
Trying to keep your showers to 4 minutes or less could drastically reduce your energy bill – there are plenty of 4-minute-song playlists available to help you keep to time.
Electric oven – £1.10 per cooking cycle
Using your electric oven costs about £1.10 per cooking cycle.
The yearly cost will depend entirely on how often you use it, but for a family cooking daily, this could easily add up to over £400.
Air fryer – £0.68 per cooking cycle
While still in the red category, an air fryer uses significantly less energy than a standard electric oven, and you’ll likely find your cooking time is reduced compared to an oven, too.
For a household using it once daily, this would amount to about £250 per year – a considerable saving compared to using an oven for the same tasks.While not suitable for all meals, cooking on the hob is considerably cheaper using an air fryer or an oven, while using a microwave is cheaper still.
Portable heater – £0.49 per hour
Portable electric heaters might seem like a convenient way to warm up a single room, but with typical usage of around 487 hours per year, they cost around £238 to run.Making sure you get your home cold-weather ready before winter arrives can mean you won’t need to use portable heaters or central heating as much.
Hair dryer – £0.49 per hour
Hair dryers use a lot of power in short bursts.
Based on average use of 122 hours annually, they typically cost around £60 per year to run, despite only being used for a few minutes at a time.
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