Find the cheapest tariff
Cost per use, at your rate
See what your appliances really cost to run
Most appliance running-cost articles use one wattage and one price-cap rate, then go out of date the moment the cap moves. This one is different: pick an appliance, type in your electricity rate, and every cost updates for your home.
The maths is always the same simple sum: power × time × your rate. Learn it once and you can price anything that plugs in.
An "energy guzzler" is rarely the appliance you think. A 3,000 W kettle used for three minutes costs less than a 100 W device left on all day. What matters is not the big number on the rating plate: it is how long the appliance runs and the rate you pay per unit.
Use the calculator below to price any appliance for your home, then read the guide for the ones that matter most to you. The single biggest lever on every number is your electricity rate, so it is worth checking you are not overpaying for the kWh in the first place.
What does your appliance cost to run?
Costs you about
a year · · £
Each
A month
Cheapest live electricity rate
British Gas is offering 23.85p per kWh — about 9% below the 26.11p price cap. Apply it to see every cost above drop.
A lower unit rate cuts the cost of every appliance above at once.
Default unit rate: Ofgem price cap, 1 July to 30 September 2026, Direct Debit. Costs are estimates based on typical power ratings.
Every appliance at a glance
at the 26.11p/kWh price cap| Appliance | Power | Typical use | kWh/yr | Per use | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air fryer | 1,500 W | 30 min, 5×/wk | 195 | 19.6p | £51 |
| Electric oven | 2,100 W | 60 min, 5×/wk | 546 | 54.8p | £143 |
| Broadband router | 10 W | all day, 7×/wk | 87 | 6.3p | £23 |
| TV (50-inch LED) | 90 W | 300 min, 7×/wk | 164 | 11.7p | £43 |
| Tumble dryer | 2,500 W | 90 min, 3×/wk | 585 | 97.9p | £153 |
| Washing machine | 1,000 W | 60 min, 4×/wk | 208 | 26.1p | £54 |
| Dishwasher | 1,200 W | 90 min, 4×/wk | 374 | 47.0p | £98 |
| Kettle | 3,000 W | 3 min, 21×/wk | 164 | 3.9p | £43 |
| Fridge-freezer | 17 W | all day, 7×/wk | 149 | 10.7p | £39 |
| Electric heater | 2,000 W | 240 min, 7×/wk | 2,912 | £2.09 | £760 |
| Electric fan | 50 W | all day, 7×/wk | 437 | 31.3p | £114 |
| Portable air conditioner | 1,200 W | 240 min, 7×/wk | 1,747 | £1.25 | £456 |
| Split air conditioner | 750 W | 240 min, 7×/wk | 1,092 | 78.3p | £285 |
| Electric shower | 8,500 W | 10 min, 7×/wk | 516 | 37.0p | £135 |
| Desktop / gaming PC | 200 W | 240 min, 7×/wk | 291 | 20.9p | £76 |
All figures at the Ofgem price-cap electricity rate of 26.11p per kWh (1 July–30 September 2026, Direct Debit). Standing charges are paid whether or not you switch anything on, so they are not included here. Change the rate in the calculator above to re-price every row for your own tariff. The cheapest live electricity rate we can see today is 23.85p per kWh from British Gas, about 9% below the cap; at that rate every cost above falls by roughly the same share.
Appliance by appliance
The appliances people ask about most
Each guide uses the same calculator above, pre-set to that appliance, plus the one non-obvious truth that changes how you use it.
Air fryer running cost
About 18p a cook and ~£48 a year. Why it beats the oven for small meals, and the crossover point where the oven wins.
Read the guideBroadband router electricity cost
A router is the cheapest always-on device you own. Why "always on" is not expensive, and why switching it off can backfire.
Read the guideHow much electricity does a TV use?
A 50-inch LED costs ~£40 a year. Why screen size beats hours, why standby is a myth, and the devices that cost more than the telly.
Read the guideAir conditioning units: which to buy
Portable vs split, what size (BTU) you need, and the heat-pump trick: the unit you buy to cool in summer can heat in winter too.
Read the guidePortable air conditioner running cost
About £2.40 an 8-hour day, plus the single-hose trap that quietly wastes a third of the cooling you paid for.
Read the guideThe bigger picture
From appliances to the whole bill
Appliances are one slice of your bill. These guides explain the rest, in the same plain language.
What is a kWh?
The one unit your whole bill is counted in, explained as speed vs distance.
Average gas and electric bill
What a typical UK home pays, by household size, and why "average" is not your bill.
Energy bills explained
Where your money actually goes, and why a quarter of it is not energy at all.
Average UK energy usage
The kWh a small, medium or large UK home uses each year.
Appliance cost FAQ
The Selectra expert answers your questions
Use one sum: power × time × your rate. Take the watts from the rating plate, divide by 1,000 to get kilowatts, multiply by the hours you use it, then multiply by your electricity rate in pounds per kWh. The calculator above does this for you, at your own rate.
Anything that makes heat: electric showers, tumble dryers, ovens, kettles and electric heaters. They pull thousands of watts. Gadgets that make light or sound, like a TV or a router, use very little by comparison. The rule of thumb: if it heats something, it costs the most.
Less than most people think. Since 2013, standby on most modern devices is under 1 W, so a TV left on standby costs around £1 a year. The bigger savings come from devices that idle at higher power, like an older set-top box or a games console left in "instant on" mode.
Lower your electricity rate. It cuts the cost of every appliance you own at the same time, every day, with no change to how you live. See today's cheapest unit rate and put it into the calculator above to watch every cost drop.
The rate beats the gadget
A lower unit rate cuts every appliance at once
Tweaking how you use one appliance saves pennies. A cheaper rate per kWh saves on the air fryer, the kettle, the TV and the heating, every single day. See today's cheapest unit rate before you worry about the gadgets.