Does the kettle consume more electricity than the TV? How much energy do your tools use | energy bills

hHow much does it cost to charge your phone or toothbrush? Is it cheaper to use the microwave to cook your food as has been suggested? With the cost of electricity putting a strain on all of our finances, and having a home full of technology, I decided it was time to see just how power-hungry everyday appliances really are.

We are constantly told that all kinds of electrical appliances consume electricity, and that you can make huge savings by doing so Turn off the Vampire Devices on the wall. But is this really true? To break through the fugue and discover myself, I grabbed a power meter and spent the last two months testing everything I could.

Cost per use schedule

Some devices get a bad rap for good reason, and they consume as much electricity as anyone’s business. Some older wifi routers will fall into this category, and my testing suggests that you may also be paying more than you think to watch TV. I was also surprised at the cost of using our hair dryer. However, I found the other devices to be reassuringly frugal.

Some manufacturers provide electricity consumption figures for their products. Others print the maximum power the device can use in watts (W) on its plug.

Hourly cost schedule

It’s easy to measure the amount of electricity used on your own with a simple energy meter. They cost less than £20, are a hole between your device and a power socket and can usually measure from 0.5W and up. You may be surprised what you find.

To convert watts to kilowatt-hours (kWh), the unit of energy in which consumption is measured, simply divide by 1,000 and multiply by the number of hours in use.

Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly from my research.

The good

According to my tests, a lot of the technology made in the last 5 years was fairly energy efficient, drawing less than 0.5W in standby mode, so it would cost £1.50 max if left plugged in all the time for a year, but on Most likely far, far less.

This included TV, monitor, smart kettle, smart bulbs, Xbox game consolesmart hubs for lights and thermostats, and many other devices, including various phone, tablet, and laptop chargers.

However, my 10 year old was a standout Panasonic microwavewhich consumed 2 watts when doing nothing other than displaying the time – for £6 a year I could do without it.

Wirelessly connected systems usually consume a little more than that. Sonos speakerswhich connect via wifi to each other and the internet, draw between 1W and 3W (£3 to £9 per year) on standby, depending on age.

The smart speakers were pleasantly energy efficient. Amazon Point resonance with the clock And the The Google Minnie’s nest It consumes less than 0.5W when idle and only 2.3-4W (less than 0.13pph) when pumping music at maximum volume.

LED smart bulbs were also fairly efficient, consuming about 6 watts (0.17 pixels per hour) when turned on to maximum brightness, which is about the same as their non-smart counterparts.

Charging portable electronic devices is generally very affordable. Smartphones usually cost less than a penny on a full charge, while smartphones cost less than a penny iPad Air It cost about 1.4p, and a laptop, like 14-inch MacBook Pro, costs 3.4p to run the entire backup. a Philips electric toothbrush Costs less than 3p in electricity to use per year.

Modern decoders consume very little power. Last Apple TV 4K And the sky New stream box Draws less than 0.5W in standby mode and costs 0.07pph and 0.14pph respectively while watching movies. Older boxes, like Sky Qconsumes about 12 watts (0.4 pixels per hour) when watching TV but sleeps soundly overnight, and draws less than 0.5 watts when not recording or updating.

bad

In general, if a device has a screen or emits light, it consumes more electricity. The Google 7in Nest Hub It consumes about 2.7 watts (0.09 pixels per hour) when displaying images, and costs about 1.5 pixels per day to keep power up. AmazonLarger Echo Show 10 It costs just under 4p a day to run.

Mine 28 inch 4K computer monitor Asus They cost just over a penny per hour to use. However, my TV produced one of the biggest surprises. My mid range 55 inch LG OLED TV It costs 2.2p an hour to watch HD content. Start watching HDR content or gaming, however, and the cost increases to about 3.3p per hour.

The X-Box It takes about 6p an hour when gaming, which costs less than 10p an hour with TV – much less than a gaming PC.

However, using a console like the Xbox to stream TV costs about 2p an hour, which can add up quickly.

Another surprise might be how much electricity your router consumes. Some older models can use up to 18W (£53 per year). most modern Linksys Velop MX5300 The ones I use draw about 10 watts, costing £29.78 a year in electricity per unit, and I have four of them dotted around my house. Turning off the internet to save electricity may not be realistic, but asking your provider for a newer, more efficient model could save you some money.

the ugly

Anything that gets hot or moves consumes the most energy in my testing, and it’s almost all household appliances.

Cooking is expensive no matter what you do, but the oven is one of the most expensive. An electric fan oven at 200C costs about 45-55pph to run.

Mine 850 watt microwave They cost about 40p an hour to run but cook significantly faster. However, using a gas grill may be cheaper. Heating 800g of lentil soup in 10 minutes on the smallest ring costs 0.14p compared to about 2p in a microwave.

Even tea and toast add up quickly. Mine Morphy Richards 2-slot toaster It costs about 1p to roast, while boiling 0.5 liters of water at room temperature costs about 2p. However, I can save about 30% on electricity by heating water to 85°C just for coffee with a smart kettle.

Also, washing clothes is somewhat expensive. Daily wash cycle for 72 minutes 40 degrees in a Samsung washing machine 7 kg Costs 25p for electricity but increases significantly on higher temperatures or longer cycles with more cycles.

One surprisingly expensive item was the hair dryer. a Parlux dryer 2200 watts It costs about 6p to use for 10 minutes.

Electric heaters are also expensive to run. Even relatively efficient Dyson fan heater It costs 16p an hour to keep a small room at 20C, which is about 5p more than the amount of gas burned per hour by a 2013 combi boiler that heats the whole house under similar conditions.