Households have been warned energy bills could pass £5,000 next April, according to a new shock forecast.
Consultancy Auxilione this morning said Ofgem could set its price cap at £5,038 per year - in yet another blow for worried Brits.
With many worried about how much their energy bills will be from October, it is important to try and keep costs down wherever possible.
Energy experts at Radiators Online have worked out the worst energy-guzzling appliances in the home and how expensive they are to run.
We break down everything you need to know:
1. Air conditioning and heating
The experts said: “Your HVAC 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, invest 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.”
2. Water heating
According to the experts, water heaters come next on the list, costing around £828.55 if used daily for a year.
This is a huge amount of money to be paying just for water.
However, homeowners don’t have to break the bank to heat water in their homes.
The experts recommended heat pumps, which use electricity to transfer heat using only around 500 watts - but the devices have many critics.
3. Fridge
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.”
4. Dishwasher
Many people use dishwashers for convenience, but they 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 added: “This means it uses 3.6 kWh per average, costing you about £240.20 if used daily for a year.”
5. 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 added: “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.”
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.”
