Appliance running cost calculator
Pick an appliance, check its wattage, and see what it costs per hour, day, week, month and year. There's an electric car charging calculator further down. The default unit rate is Ofgem's price cap for October to December 2026. Change it to the rate on your bill.
Where the wattages come from
Each preset shows a typical (published) range from at least one named source, and from two wherever we could find them. The "typical" value is the midpoint of the published range, unless a source states a typical figure, in which case we use that and say so. Your own appliance's rating plate, manual or energy label beats any average, so type in its figure if you have it.
| Appliance | Published range | Typical | Per hour | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oil-filled radiator | 1,500–2,500 W | 1,500 W | 39.5p | Energy Savers, CSE |
| Fan heater | 1,000–3,000 W | 2,000 W | 52.6p | NEA, CSE |
| Electric bar fire | 2,000–3,000 W | 2,000 W | 52.6p | Energy Savers, CSE |
| Tumble dryer (vented or condenser) | 1,500–3,000 W | 2,250 W | 59.2p | Energy Savers, NEA |
| Dehumidifier (compressor) | 105–267 W | 151 W | 4.0p | Meaco, Which? |
| Dehumidifier (desiccant) | 350–660 W | 656 W | 17.3p | Meaco, Energy Savers |
| Heated towel rail | 250–500 W | 375 W | 9.9p | Energy Savers |
| Electric blanket | 130–200 W | 165 W | 4.3p | Energy Savers |
| Immersion heater | 3,000 W | 3,000 W | 79.0p | Energy Savers, NEA |
| Electric shower | 7,000–10,500 W | 8,750 W | £2.30 | Energy Savers, NEA |
| Kettle | 2,500–3,000 W | 2,750 W | 72.4p | Energy Savers, NEA |
| Electric oven / grill | 2,000–2,400 W | 2,200 W | 57.9p | Energy Savers, NEA |
| Electric hob (per ring) | 1,000–2,000 W | 1,500 W | 39.5p | Energy Savers, NEA |
| Microwave | 600–1,500 W | 1,050 W | 27.6p | Energy Savers, NEA |
| Air fryer | 1,400–1,800 W | 1,600 W | 42.1p | NEA (2025) |
| Toaster | 800–1,500 W | 1,150 W | 30.3p | Energy Savers |
| Slow cooker | 150–300 W | 225 W | 5.9p | NEA |
| Dishwasher | 1,050–1,500 W | 1,275 W | 33.6p | Energy Savers |
| Washing machine | 1,000–3,000 W | 2,000 W | 52.6p | Energy Savers, NEA |
| Fridge-freezer | 100–400 W | 250 W | 6.6p | Energy Savers, NEA |
| Fridge | 40–120 W | 80 W | 2.1p | Energy Savers |
| Freezer | 150 W | 150 W | 3.9p | Energy Savers |
| Iron | 1,000–3,000 W | 2,000 W | 52.6p | Energy Savers, NEA |
| Hairdryer | 2,000 W | 2,000 W | 52.6p | Energy Savers |
| Vacuum cleaner | 500–1,200 W | 850 W | 22.4p | Energy Savers, NEA |
| LCD / LED TV | 25–200 W | 110 W | 2.9p | Energy Savers, NEA |
| Games console | 45–200 W | 120 W | 3.2p | Energy Savers, NEA |
| Desktop computer | 80–200 W | 140 W | 3.7p | Energy Savers |
| Gaming PC (graphics card + processor, heavy gaming) | 210–695 W | 370 W | 9.7p | NVIDIA, AMD |
| Laptop | 20–65 W | 45 W | 1.2p | Energy Savers |
| Broadband router | 5–15 W | 10 W | 0.26p | Energy Savers, NEA |
| LED light bulb | 6–10 W | 8 W | 0.21p | NEA |
| Phone or tablet (charging) | 2–15 W | 8 W | 0.21p | Energy Savers, NEA |
| Electric car home charger | 3,700–7,000 W | 7,000 W | £1.84 | Energy Saving Trust |
Reading the results
- Appliances that cycle: fridges, ovens, heaters with thermostats, dryers, washing machines and dishwashers don't draw full power all the time. Their real cost is lower than the hourly figure suggests. For dryers, our cost per load guide is more accurate.
- Standing charge: the 54.83p a day you pay for being connected isn't included, because switching an appliance off doesn't change it.
- Your tariff: fixed, regional and time-of-use tariffs all differ from the cap average. Use your own unit rate for the best answer.
See how we calculate for the full method.
Electric car charging costs
Charging an electric car at home works differently from an appliance, so it has its own calculator. Tell it how efficient your car is and how far you drive, and it works out the cost per mile, per hour of charging and for a full charge. You can switch to an overnight EV tariff rate too.
- Efficiency: the presets come from Which?'s lab tests. Its average across all the electric cars it has tested is 3.18 miles per kWh, which is 31.4 kWh per 100 miles. Its BMW iX figure of 2.97 miles per kWh works out at 33.7 kWh per 100 miles. A 2025 Tesla Model Y Long Range RWD cost 6.53p a mile at 24.67p per kWh in Which?'s tests, which works out at about 26.5 kWh per 100 miles (our arithmetic) Typical (published).
- Chargers: the Energy Saving Trust classes 3.7 kW to under 8 kW as standard chargepoints. It says the kW rating roughly equals the miles of range added in 20 minutes, so a 7 kW charger adds about 7 miles every 20 minutes. With the defaults, our calculator gives about 20 miles an hour, which fits.
- Charging losses: some electricity is lost as heat between the meter and the battery. We add 10% by default as an assumption you can change. Which?'s lab found that a 2024 Skoda Enyaq's 77 kWh battery needed 88 kWh to charge fully on an 11 kW AC charger, about 14% extra.
- Battery and tariff: the Energy Saving Trust uses a 50 kWh battery as typical, and puts a full home charge at about £17 on a standard tariff or £8 on an EV tariff. Which? says home charging on an off-peak or EV rate can cost 7p per kWh, so we use that as the overnight example. Check your own tariff's rate and hours.
Sources: Which? – How much does it cost to charge an electric car? · Energy Saving Trust – Charging electric vehicles · Energy Saving Trust – EV fact check · Ofgem price cap rates