With the large quantity of smart tech being released, homes and households are accruing vast amounts of electrical gadgets and appliances. Some consume little, while others actually consume a lot.
As energy prices continue to rise, it’s important to look at which of these appliances consumes the most energy and what you can do to use them more efficiently.
Before we start, please look at some government and energy supplier-based support to help households manage during this difficult period.
How much energy do common appliances consume?
The energy usage below is based on stats provided by Carbon Footprint, showing the typical usage and energy consumption of appliances.
| 22 | Power usage | Typical usage |
|---|---|---|
| LCD TV | 0.21kWh per hour | 6 hours a day (power on) |
| Fridge Freezer (A spec) | 408kWh per year | 24 hours a day |
| Tumble Dryer | 2.50kWh per cycle | 148 uses a year |
| Electric hob | 0.71kWh per use | 424 uses a year |
| Electric oven | 1.56kWh per use | 135 uses per year |
| Dishwasher | 1.44kWh per use (at 65oC) | 135 uses per year |
| Kettle | 0.11 kWh per use based on heating 1 litre of water | 1,542 uses per year |
According to the Energy Savings Trust, the current average cost per kWh is £0.28 (April 2022). You can multiply this by your consumption to work out the exact energy cost of the appliance.
How to run your TV more efficiently
It’s evident from the table that your TV and Fridge/Freezer have the highest energy consumption of all the appliances in your household. However, there are ways to reduce its energy consumption (and yes, that does include watching less of your favourite TV programs).
Here are a couple of extra tips to help you make watching TV cheaper:
- Turn your television off instead of leaving it on standby, as it’ll soak up energy without being used.
- Replace your plasma TV with an LCD screen. LCDs use far less energy than Plasma televisions.
- Set it to Eco mode: You’ll use far less energy per hour of consumption.
- Set the backlight to the minimum setting as it will drain energy without providing the user with many benefits.
- Adjust and reduce the brightness settings.
These simple tips will drastically reduce your energy consumption over the year and, therefore, your bill.
Tumble dryers. How to manage your consumption
Tumble dryers are handy but not essential. They use an average of 2.5kWh per cycle, and some households use these daily, not once but twice. It adds up.
You could potentially save over £60 by hanging your clothes up to dry outside or indoors using a rack. In winter, this may not be as appetising, but a reduction in use may save you a lot of money over time.
If it has an eco mode, use it! This is a quick way to run your appliance at an efficient rate and keep costs low.
How to run your fridge freezer more efficiently
Your fridge freezer will always be on, and so will use electricity during the day when it’s most expensive.
It typically takes 408 kWh to power your fridge freezer for the year, but you can reduce this by running it more efficiently Here are a few tips:
- Never put hot food. If you’ve cooked something to save for another day, leave it to cool down to room temperature before putting it in. Your fridge and bills will thank you.
- Defrost the freezer regularly to ensure it runs at an efficient level.
- Your fridge works optimally at below 5 degrees Celcius and your freezer at -18 degrees celsius.
- Ensure your door to both the fridge and freezer is airtight and fix any that are not.
- Remove any excess dust that collects on the condenser coils at the back of your fridge.
- Try not to overfill your fridge. Leaving space within the fridge allows the air to circulate and keeps the temperature at the set levels.
- Leave a gap behind your fridge freezer to allow the hot air to escape; if not, heat will accumulate around it, making it harder for your appliance to work optimally.
- If you ever want to swap your fridge freezer to a newer model, check the model’s energy efficiency and pick something that will run on less power.
Also, ensure you boil your kettle correctly!
The kettle adds on average £48 a year to your energy bill. That cup of tea eats into your energy budget pretty quickly.
It takes 0.11kWh to boil a kettle with one litre of water. To keep the costs down:
Get an insulated kettle. The insulated kettles boil quicker and keep the water hot for longer, so you can make multiple across the day.
Only boil the amount you want to use if you don’t have a fully insulated kettle. Less water takes much less energy to boil. A couple of extra energy-saving tips:
Here are a couple of additional tips to reduce energy consumption around the house:
Switch off standby
Don’t use standby. Ensure you switch all appliances off correctly. Most electrical appliances are not affected by being switched off at the plug.
Reduce the time you spend in the shower
The Energy Saving Trust states that by keeping your shower time to 4 minutes or less, a typical household will save £70 a year on their energy bills.
Turn off the lights!
Make sure when you leave the room, you turn the lights off! Switching the lights off when you leave the room or setting timers can save you about £20 a year on your energy bill, according to the Energy Saving Trust.
*Installing LED bulbs to help conserve energy.
Wash your clothes efficiently
You can reduce your energy bill by £20-£25 a year by changing the way you wash your clothes. For instance:
Reduce the number of washes you run per week; it will make a significant difference to your energy consumption.
Wash your clothes at a much lower temperature – a 30-degree cycle will use less energy than a 40 or high-heat cycle. The higher the temperature, the more energy is needed.
When the energy market starts to normalise (eventually!), we will offer you the ability to compare the latest energy deals and make savings. Until we can provide competitive comparisons, we will not be offering a comparison service.
