Your home is full of them, TV adverts are always reminding us of the latest ones…but do you know how much your household appliances, both big and small, are costing you each year to run?

According to the Department of Energy & Climate Change, in 2014 the average electricity bill in the UK was over £590. But do you know how much your appliances are costing you?

Whilst the exact cost of running your appliances will vary depending on a number of factors, including the model and age of your appliances, as well has how much your KWh/year cost is, below we share the average cost for those appliances we all use on a regular basis – as well as tips on how to reduce their running costs.

Fridge-Freezer:

Due to being left on all day, every day, you would understand if your fridge-freezer cost you a small fortune to run each year. Yet in reality, the average running cost of a fridge-freezer is £62 a year, although this is based on the average energy consumption being 427 kWh/year and is for a fridge-freezer combo.

Whilst this may not sound like a lot, particularly when you consider the appliance is on around the clock, there are steps you can take to reduce the cost of running your fridge-freezer. The 3 best ways to reduce the cost of running your fridge-freezer include:

• Setting the right temperature
• Cleaning & maintaining your appliance
• Placing it in the right location

In our post “How To Save Money With Your Fridge” we explain in more detail how these steps can help save you money.

Cooker:

Whether you see yourself as a cooking maestro who should be on MasterChef or your cooking is as flat as a pancake and more suited to Can’t Cook, Won’t Cook, the cooker is still an appliance which will be used on a regular basis.

But do you know how much it costs to use, even if all you’re cooking is fish fingers and waffles?

It has been suggested the cost of running your cooker with an electric hob, each year is close to £50, but a poorly maintained cooker could be costing you a lot more, both in terms of time and money.

For example, if the door seal on your cooker has become faulty and heat is able to escape it will not only take longer for your food to cook, but you will be wasting energy, which will also see you waste money.

Replacing a faulty door seal on your cooker to bring the appliance back to its optimum performance and ensure it isn’t leaving you wasting money, needn’t be expensive nor difficult, especially as we have a vast range of replacement seals available – whilst the video below explains how to replace the part.

Another step to reduce the cost of running your cooker is to regularly clean it, as per the advice in our “How To Clean Your Oven” video.

Laundry Appliances:

As explained in our “Find the Superhero in Your Appliances” post, your washing machine and tumble dryer are the Batman and Robin of household appliances. Not only do they fight and remove all types of dirt and stains found on your clothes and laundry, but they also help you dry your laundry whatever the weather.

Whilst the two appliances between them may be the Batman and Robin of the appliance world, they can be a prime cost in your annual electricity bill, with it being suggested that a typical C-rated tumble dryer costing £75 per year, whilst an A-rated 7kg washing machine costs £34 per year to run. [source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/energy-bills/11943882/Quiz-Know-your-household-appliances-Test-yourself-on-running-costs.html]

To reduce the amount your washing machine is costing you each year, it is possible to reduce the temperature of the wash down to 30⁰C. This will not only ensure any dirt your clothes come into contact with is removed from them, but it’ll also see your washing machine use 40% less electricity – saving you money.

However, it is worth noting when switching to lower temperature washes, you should run a monthly maintenance wash, as explained in this video.

Key to reducing the cost of running your tumble dryer is to regularly clean and maintain it. Part of this involves cleaning the lint filters after every use, whilst using energy saving tumble dryer balls will also reduce the drying time by as much as 25% – helping to save you money in both the short and long term.

Small Appliances:

Our homes are full of small appliances, from TVs and coffee makers, to kettles and slow cookers. And whilst all of these appliances can help to make the home that little bit more comfortable and cooking that little bit easier, they can increase your electricity bill too.

In fact, it costs roughly:

• 5p to boil a full kettle – so make sure you’re only boiling as much water as you need
• 5p to run a slow cooker for any hour [source: https://blog.npower.com/2013/02/ever-wondered-how-much-your-appliances-cost-to-run/]
• 2p an hour to run a 21 inch TV for an hour – although it’s estimated the average family spend almost £70 a year running their TV, DVD players and set top boxes. Cut these costs by either limiting the amount of time you and your family watch TV or by making sure not to leave your TV on standby.

Knowing how much your appliances are costing you, even if it only seems a small amount to begin with, and knowing ways to reduce the costs of each appliance can help save you money in both the short and long term. And remember, as our grandparents always use to say: “look after the pennies, and the pounds will look after themselves.”

Tags: Appliances, Money Saving, Money Saving Tips