Millions of Brits are actively looking at ways to reduce their household bills as the cap on energy prices could top £5,000 by next year. The bleak forecast is £200 higher than previous forecasts and will heap more pressure on households as the cost of living crisis grows.
Under the latest forecasts, energy bills for many homes could surpass £500 per month come January but if you use less energy, your bills will be lower. For millions of households across the country, the final few weeks of summer before the temperature starts to drop offer the last chance to make real changes to energy habits around the home that could help cut costs come the October price cap.
To help people get started thinking more about how they use their appliances, especially white goods, energy experts at Radiators Online shared the most energy-intensive appliances and how expensive they are to run with Mirror Online.
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Air conditioning and heating
Radiators Online experts said: “Your HVAC [Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning] system is the biggest consumer of energy in your home.
“Most HVAC systems run 24 hours a day; therefore, depending on the efficiency of your unit, on average, it may use 72kWh in a day, costing you a staggering £4,967.65 a year and £13.61 every day.”
To save money, they suggest investing in a programmable thermostat.
“If you assumed the energy costs of running a fan are minimal, you’d be right. Consider direct current fans. They use so little energy that operating one at full speed for 24 hours a day would cost between £24.83 and £164.25 a year,” advised the experts.
Water heating
According to the experts, water heaters cost around £828.55 over the course of a year, if used every day.
To save some money, the experts suggest heat pumps, which use electricity to transfer heat using only around 500 watts.
Fridge Freezer
The experts said: “A refrigerator must run 24 hours a day to keep your food fresh. This appliance needs 180 watts per hour to run, which means it requires 4.32 kWh to run for 24 hours.
“Multiplying this by 365 days at the average price per kWh, we find that your fridge is costing you £299.30 per year.”
Dishwasher
Many people use dishwashers for convenience, but they can cost a fortune to run. It takes around 1800 watts for a dishwasher to run for one hour, and the average washer runs for about two hours.
The experts explained: “This means it uses 3.6 kWh per average, costing you about £240.20 if used daily for a year.”
Oven
While the oven is not the most expensive appliance to run, opening and closing the door can be costly. According to the experts, this can affect how much electricity the oven uses.
They said: “We estimated that an oven is used, on average, for about an hour a day. It takes about 2400 watts for an average oven to run, therefore, it requires 2.4 kWh for one hour of use and costs about £164.25 to use daily for a year.”
Commenting on the costs of running these appliances over a 12-month period, a spokesperson for Radiators Online said: “The cheapest household product on our list is the washing machine.
“This appliance is a widely used Energy Star model and only needs 500 watts per hour to run. This is because your washing machine uses more energy heating water than it does doing anything else during a wash cycle.
“So, washing machines are more energy efficient by using cold water, which most people prefer to use when doing their laundry.
“Hence, if used every day for a year, a washing machine’s electricity costs £18.25.
“Overall, refrain from using your energy-intensive appliances as much as possible, opt for energy star®-rated models and consider cheaper alternatives.”
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