Which appliances use the most electricity?

The thing that decides it

Cost is power multiplied by time. A 3 kW kettle used eight times a day for three minutes uses 1.2 kWh — about 30p. A 300 W dehumidifier running eight hours a day uses 2.4 kWh, or 60p, at a tenth of the power.

So the expensive things in a home are rarely the ones that feel powerful. They are the ones that run for a long time, or that heat something.

Roughly in order, for a typical home

1. Electric heating, where it is used. Nothing else is close. Resistive electric heat costs about four times as much per unit of warmth as gas, and in an electrically heated home it dominates everything below.
2. Charging an electric car. Typically 2,000–3,500 kWh a year on ordinary mileage — more than many households use for everything else combined.
3. Immersion heaters and electric showers. A 9 kW shower uses about 1.5 kWh in ten minutes. An immersion left on by accident is one of the most expensive faults in a house.
4. Tumble dryers. The largest ordinary appliance load, and the one where the machine matters most: a heat-pump dryer uses roughly a third of a vented one.
5. Fridges and freezers. Individually small, but they run continuously. Several old ones — a garage freezer, a beer fridge — add up quietly.
6. Washing machines and dishwashers. Almost all of it is heating water, so the temperature matters far more than the machine.
7. Ovens. Less than the rating suggests. The element cycles once the oven reaches temperature.
8. Televisions, computers and consoles. Modest while running. Worth checking what they draw when they are not.

The one people miss

Standby. It is charged for all the hours the appliance is not in use, which makes it matter most for things you rarely touch. A modern television costs pennies a year on standby; a games console in rest mode, an old set-top box, or a desktop sleeping rather than shut down can each cost £15 to £30.

A claim that is not true

All electric heaters of the same wattage cost the same to run. A 2 kW oil-filled radiator, a 2 kW fan heater and a 2 kW halogen heater turn identical electricity into identical heat. They differ in how fast and where they deliver it, not in how much they consume. Any product claiming to be a cheaper-to-run electric heater at the same power rating is claiming something physically impossible.

Find yours rather than trusting a list

Any list, including this one, is a national average applied to your house. The measurement that actually answers the question costs nothing: read your meter last thing at night and first thing in the morning, and see what your home draws while nobody is using anything. See how to find your base load.

The appliance running cost calculator works out individual appliances, including standby, and compares two side by side.