ENERGY bills have risen for millions across the UK but you can cut costs by switching up what household appliances you use.
The average households’ yearly bills will go up to £2,500 from £1,971 since the Energy Price Guarantee has come into effect.
Knowing how much appliances cost can help you keep costs down this winter
Everyday appliances like ovens, tumble dryers, halogen lights and hobs might be commonplace, but they can churn through energy.
If you’re not careful, it can see your costs rack up and see you forking out hundreds more than you should be.
With the cost of living crisis firmly gripping the UK, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most energy-guzzling appliances and the easy switches you can make to save on your bills.
Of course, one thing to bear in mind is that the costs below are based on how much the average appliance will use up in energy – you could save more or less depending on how much energy you normally use.
It also depends on which appliances you have or use more often, but it’s worth taking note anyway.
Here’s our top four appliances to look out for.
Tumble dryer
According to experts, running the tumble dryer consumes 1.14kWh on average, which costs around £2.71 per cycle under the energy price guarantee.
On average, that could cost a household a whopping £140 a year.
But if you have a heat pump model this price is slashed in half – as they are far more energy efficient.
In warmer weather, hang your clothes outside to dry if you can, and you could save money by using a heated clothes airer too.
Kettle
A cup of tea is morning must-have for millions of people, but if you’re using your kettle wrong, you could be boiling up your energy bills.
Overfilling the kettle and leaving it on standby are two ways you might be wasting cash
The more water there is in your kettle, the harder it has to work to get it to boiling point. And that’s a waste of energy if you’re only making one cuppa.
Figures now show that boiling 300ml of water in a kettle will cost 1.56p under the current energy price guarantee. Using a covered pan on a gas hob costs 1.15p.
To avoid spending too much, get your mug, fill it with water and pour that into your kettle – this way you are only heating up the water you’re wanting to use.
Meanwhile, according to Utilita, leaving a kettle switched on at the wall adds around a fiver to your annual energy bill.
Air fryer
Under the new price cap, using an air fryer for 15 minutes costs 13p.
Although it seems like the cheapest option, running an oven for an hour would now cost 21p – so an air fryer is actually more expensive.
You could consider using the microwave instead as these are much cheaper to run, or switch off your oven or air dryer at the wall when you know you’re not using it.
Dehumidifier
It costs 11.9p to run a dehumidifier for an hour.
According to Which?, that could be driving your annual energy bill up by nearly £30.
But remember, exactly how much you’ll be paying to run your dehumidifier depends on the model, and how often you use it.
For example, one Sun reader was paying £550 a year to keep her dehumidifier running round the clock all year.
More ways to save on energy bills
Switching all plugs and sockets off – we spoke to an expert who saved £180 a year with this hack
Meal prepping could also cut your food bills in half to roughly a tenner a week
You could try cutting down on bills you no longer need to pay – read more about that here.
If you turn your thermostat down by one notch, it can help lower your bills by a whopping £80 a year.
And keeping it at a steady temperature will save even more.
But if measures in your own home aren’t enough, there’s still time to apply for government schemes that are designed to help you foot rising energy costs.
Here’s a few schemes run by energy suppliers you could be entitled to:
- British Gas Energy Trust
- Bulb energy fund
- EDF’s energy customer support fund
- E.on’s energy fund
- Npower’s energy fund
- Ovo’s debt and energy assistance
- Scottish Power’s hardship fund
There’s also a one-off fuel voucher from your energy supplier if you’re on a prepayment metre.
All UK households are also set to receive the £400 energy bills rebate this month.
The payment will be made up of six discounts between now and March next year.
Households will receive a £66 energy bill discount this month and November and a discount worth £67 in December, January, February and March.
We tallied up six energy-saving hacks to help you stay conscious on your energy usage – some of those include tin foil behind the radiator and insulating your pipes.
You can also read a full list of bill help you could be eligible for now the energy price guarantee has hit.
