Tick the appliances you use, set the hours of use per day for each, and get an estimate of your electricity consumption and cost per month.
Appliances
| Appliance | Power (W) | Hours/day | kWh/day | kWh/month | Cost/month |
|---|
This is an estimate based on typical appliance power ratings and the price per kWh you entered. Real consumption depends on the exact model, age, and setting of each appliance, and on your actual electricity contract. Check your meter or bill for a precise figure.
Electricity pricing in the UK and how this calculator works
UK households pay for electricity per kilowatt-hour (kWh) under a unit rate set out in the Ofgem price cap, which is reviewed every three months and stood at roughly 25 to 28 pence per kWh through 2024 and 2025 for a typical variable tariff, on top of a daily standing charge that is not included in this calculator. Some suppliers also offer an Economy 7 tariff with a cheaper overnight rate, which suits households that can shift washing machine or water heater use to off-peak hours. This tool multiplies each appliance's typical power rating in watts by the hours you enter, converts the result to kWh, and applies the price per kWh you set, so it works with any tariff once you replace the default rate with your own.
Typical appliance power ratings
| Appliance | Typical power | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Refrigerator | 150 W | Runs intermittently but is usually counted as continuous |
| Freezer | 200 W | Same continuous-use assumption as a fridge |
| Washing machine | 2000 W | Only during a wash cycle of about 1 to 2 hours |
| Dishwasher | 1500 W | Per cycle, varies with the programme selected |
| Oven | 2000 W | Draws less once it reaches temperature |
| Electric space heater | 2000 W | One of the largest seasonal loads in a UK home |
| Electric water heater | 2000 W | Cycles on and off to maintain temperature |
| LED lighting | 5 to 10 W per bulb | Figure above combines several bulbs into one estimate |
What this calculator cannot do
The wattage figures here are typical values, not the rating of your specific appliance, and real power draw varies by brand, age, and efficiency class, sometimes by a factor of two for an old fridge versus a modern one. The calculator also assumes a constant power draw for the hours entered, while appliances such as fridges, washing machines, and water heaters actually cycle on and off, so a smart meter or plug-in energy monitor will always give a more accurate figure than this estimate. For the total load your home draws at once rather than over a month, the Electrical Load Calculator is the more relevant tool, and for how your appliance use fits into your wider yearly emissions, see the Carbon Footprint Estimator.
A worked example
A fridge running 24 hours a day at 150 W uses 3.6 kWh a day (150 x 24 / 1000), which is 108 kWh a month, and at 27 pence per kWh that comes to about 29.16 GBP a month just for the fridge. Add a washing machine used for 1 hour a day at 2000 W (2 kWh a day, 60 kWh a month, about 16.20 GBP) and a television used 3 hours a day at 100 W (0.3 kWh a day, 9 kWh a month, about 2.43 GBP), and the combined total reaches roughly 5.9 kWh a day, 177 kWh a month, and 47.79 GBP a month for those three appliances alone, which shows how quickly always-on and high-wattage appliances add up on a bill.