16 Appliances Consuming the Most Energy in Your Home

Our daily routines revolve around electronic appliances that consume more energy than we realise. Mobile phones, video games, computers, washing machines, and the list goes on.

In fact, the average 3-person UK home uses 2,700kWh of electricity each year, which means the electricity bill comes out to be £1,717.

But there’s a hidden cost to your energy bill. All of the appliances that you leave plugged in, even when not in use, are slowly consuming electricity in the home. And the reality is that 23% of your electricity is essentially going to waste on these vampire devices.

Standby mode is supposed to be for when the appliance will be used actively again in just a moment. But instead, many electronics stay on in standby mode wasting energy through power consumption needlessly.

Fighting these vampire devices is important because living costs continue to rise due to all-time high energy costs. Eliminating unnecessary energy use can save the average household £147 on their annual energy bills.

The key to getting rid of vampire devices is knowing your electricity usage, how much electricity common household appliances consume and when to unplug them.

The graph above reflects the proportion of energy used by a device actively compared to a device in standby mode. Consider that the graph represents the amount of energy if you used the appliance non-stop for a whole year. This is the case for most devices in your household on standby mode, but it’s less plausible to assume that you’d be boiling water in a water kettle for a whole year.

If you feel like you pay more for electric items than you should, read on to find out more about which appliances around your home consume the most active/standby energy and tips to save energy.

This thorough list of appliances’ energy consumption covers electrical devices for common rooms in your home, from the kitchen to the bathroom, living room and office. We’ll also calculate the cost of running everyday appliances to see where savings can be made.

Renewable energy sources, such as solar panels and air source heat pumps in the UK, can save homeowners money on their energy bills each year; making expensive home appliances cheaper to run long term and increase their energy efficiency.

Given the current energy prices, and cost of living, however solar panel prices and heat pump costs can be high for you. Our tips below offer great ways to save money now, reduce your carbon footprint and discover more about your electrical appliances.

The kitchen is one of the rooms with the most vampire devices because, by nature, appliances like fridges and freezers need to constantly stay on. In fact, your kitchen appliances account for approximately 17% of the average household’s electricity bill. This includes the fridge, freezer, hob, oven, kettle, microwave, and other kitchen appliances.

A standard 3 kilowatt (kW) water kettle costs almost 74p to bring a full kettle (2 litres) to a boil. And if you just wanted 1 cup of tea, it would cost you about 0.54p to boil the water.

Even when turned off, the majority of modern kettles draw 30W (watts) of electricity each hour. That means a year of keeping your water kettle plugged in, you’ve spent 64p of electricity not using it.

On average, a fridge (or fridge freezer) uses 165kWh per year, you spend about 13p (.55kWh) on your fridge daily. So over the course of a year, you can expect to be paying £49 in electricity costs to run your fridge.

A regular 1.5kW power rating microwave will cost you about 6p for every 10 minutes you use it.

If your microwave has a clock display that’s always on, it’s good to consider that they’re always using at least a little energy. For instance, if you keep your microwave plugged in all the time, like most households, it adds an extra £5.15 to your energy bill every year. Unplugging, or switching off at the mains, can therefore reduce your electric bill.

The average dishwasher uses 1.2kWh per hour and costs 31p. That means for every 100 loads you do, you’re spending £29.

And on standby mode, your dishwasher only uses 3W. But in a year the electricity usage costs add up to £6.44.

If you use a 1kW toaster for 10 minutes, it would cost you about 4p. Essentially, the more toasty you like your bread, the more money you’re using.

Most bread toasters are not considered vampire devices as they use little to no standby energy. And any standby energy they do consume is considered negligible because of its amount.

Wet appliances found in the bathroom tend to be energy-hungry appliances because they also heat the water they use. Appliances such as washing machines, showers, and tumble dryers account for about 16% of the typical energy usage bill.

You probably don’t realise it while showering, but the electric shower is one of the most expensive household appliances in terms of electricity usage.

Not only does it use a lot of water (about 77 litres for 10 minutes), but if you, like most people, prefer heated water while showering, then you’re paying 32p for a 10-minute shower that uses 8kWh. That means a daily 10-minute shower costs you £119.35 by the end of the year.

The tumble dryer is the second most energy-heavy appliance (second to the shower). A standard 4.5kWh washer would cost you £1.1 per an hour-long cycle.

When left plugged in and on standby, a tumble dryer uses 2.60W an hour. In a year, that’s equivalent to almost £5.6 in electricity costs.

An electric washing machine will use around 56p for a single regular 1-hour load according to current UK prices. This assumes the machine is a 2.1kW machine.

Leaving your washing machine on standby for 1 hour costs you less than 1p, but for a full year that’ll cost you £5.58.

Living rooms nowadays are filled with smaller electronic devices that we’ve become reliant on. These devices, such as our game consoles, televisions, phones, and tablets, account for approximately 5% of your electricity bill.

Newer models of game consoles are much more powerful than they used to be and can now use 0.2kW. So the next time a couple of hours pass you by while playing, just know that it costs around 5p for every hour to power it.

While that may not seem like much, you’re also spending money when you’re not playing. In a year, you can save as much as £23.82 just by taking your game console out of standby mode by unplugging the power cord.

A standard 0.18kW LCD television will cost you 7p every hour you use it while a plasma TV will cost thrice as much on average. But even when in standby mode, it can cost you £4.9 per year.

So, how much electricity does a TV use? A 100W TV will use 2.1kWh per 3 hours of use.

It’s not uncommon for homes to always have smart speakers or other smart electronics that help control other appliances running in the background.

For perspective, a smart speaker uses 5W per hour when in use and uses 3W per hour on standby. That means if you were to use it for 1 hour a day, in a year you’d still be paying £6.4 for all the times you’re not using it.

Your phone charger is a particular vampire device that you probably have multiple of plugged in around the house. Each hour that you’re actively charging your phone costs you very little at 3p.

But what’s more surprising is probably knowing that your phone is still consuming 60% of that power when your phone is already fully charged! When your phone charger is plugged in without a connected device, it’s technically considered “no-load mode,” but in reality, it’s still another vampire device.

However, it consumes such a minuscule amount of energy that even if you kept the charger plugged in all year round, it would still only cost you 56p.

The office is another room that’s a culprit for both small appliances and medium-sized devices from computers and printers to internet modems. And when you include general lighting into the equation you’ll find that all of this accounts for about 6% of your electricity bill.

A desktop PC uses 450W of energy per hour when actively used. This compares to 5.4W when on standby or sleep mode.

By turning your computer fully off instead of in sleep mode when you’re not using it, you could be saving on electricity £11.58 each year. And an average laptop uses 100W of energy for every hour used and needs up to 4.2W of standby consumption. This translates to the extra £9 per year when left on the standby mode.

Small network equipment like modems don’t require much electricity, but this home energy vampire is typically always on and uses energy even when you’re asleep, not home, or on holiday. On average, If you have a 10W modem, you’re spending 6p a day for constant wifi access, and in a year that adds up to £16.52.

An inkjet printer uses a very minuscule amount of money when you use it. It’s about 0.1p for 10 minutes of active use, but if you’re someone who doesn’t use a printer daily yet keeps it plugged in, then it’ll cost you £1.07 a year of standby energy.

Running a 100W lightbulb costs you almost 2p per hour. And if you were to leave the light on for an entire day, then you’d be spending 59p. Running less energy-consuming light bulbs will still add some extra costs to your energy bill: