How much it will cost you to use appliances from January – from washing machines to air fryers and ovens

Energy bills will be going up from January as the price cap will rise

GETTY
Jessica Sheldon

By Jessica Sheldon


Published: 25/11/2023

- 07:00

Ofgem has confirmed the energy price cap will increase by five per cent from January

Millions of Britons face paying higher energy bills from January as the energy price cap is set to increase.

Ofgem has confirmed the price cap – which is currently at £1,834 – will be set at £1,928 a year for a typical household that uses gas and electricity and pays by direct debit, although people who use more energy will pay more than that.


While many will have already cut back on their gas and electricity usage as best they can during the cost of living crisis, some may want to work out which appliances guzzle the most energy to see if any more savings could be made.

The personal finance research site NimbleFins has analysed energy consumption data on some common household appliances.

Energy bill on phone

The energy price cap will rise to £1,928 per year from January, Ofgem said

PA

Under the price cap for September to December, using a tumble dryer once a day will cost around £128 to £227 a year, rising to between £136 and £240 once the new price cap comes into effect.

Using a dehumidifier for four hours each day would add up to anywhere between £99 and £276 per year under the current price cap, estimates suggest.

Under the January to March cap, this would cost an estimated £104 to £292 per year.

Many households have opted to ditch their ovens for alternatives which use less energy, although it’s not always the case that they are cheaper to run.

According to these calculations though, running an oven for one hour each day will cost between £49 and £99 a year.

It would cost £52 to £104 per year under the upcoming price cap.

On average, an air fryer will cost between £27 and £59 per year to use an air fryer for 20 minutes each day, rising to £28 to £63 from January.

A slow cooker is estimated to cost between £18 and £63 per year currently, based on it being used for six hours per day, three days each week.

This is set to increase to £19 to £67 over the year from January.

To use a washing machine once a day, it would currently cost around £59 to £99 per year.

The estimate will increase to between £63 and £104 from January 1.

Some may opt to keep warm under an electric blanket or throw rather than turning the heating on.

Laundry in basket

To use a washing machine once a day, it would currently cost around £59 to £99 per year

GETTY

Costs will vary, but running an electric blanket for eight hours, 180 days per year, is estimated to cost between £23 and £78 a year.

From January, this would rise to £25 to £82.

Erin Yurday, CEO and co-founder of NimbleFins, said: "Energy prices remain stubbornly high so we wanted to uncover some of the worst offenders in the home to understand where they're spending.

"If you ever needed evidence when telling someone to turn off the light - just one incandescent bulb costs £35 a year to keep on, and that rises to £38 from January.

"We were actually quite surprised that some less efficient slow cookers could cost more to use than a conventional oven.

"It can be confusing when different brands and models of the same appliance have different usages, so if you're really trying to keep on top of things, monitoring how much your smart meter goes up when you switch something on can be a good start."

You may like