Find worthwhile electricity savings without guessing appliance consumption · United Kingdom

List use before buying replacements

Record the appliances you use most, their operating time and any measured kWh. Give heating, cooling and water heating their own entries when they are electric. A powerful appliance used briefly may consume less annually than a modest continuous load. Your household measurements provide a better priority list than a generic ranking.

Compare the same service

Compare washing machines using similar loads and programmes, or televisions at a similar screen size and brightness. If one appliance draws 800 W for four hours and another 500 W for the same four hours, the difference is 1.2 kWh each day of use. Different operating times would change that comparison.

Read the energy figure, not just the class

An efficiency class helps compare products within its category, but capacity still matters. Check the numerical consumption and the test basis on the label. A per-100-cycles figure must be divided by 100 before multiplying by your own annual cycles. Actual loading, programme choice and room conditions can change consumption.

Measure standby as a separate load

Standby energy equals watts divided by 1,000, multiplied by standby hours and the number of devices. Five devices averaging an illustrative 2 W each for 20 hours use 0.2 kWh a day. Use measured values where possible. Follow manufacturer instructions before disconnecting equipment that maintains refrigeration, safety functions, communications or scheduled updates.

Check savings after changing a habit

Compare similar periods and keep comfort, occupancy and weather in mind. Calculate financial savings using the same tariff first, so a price change does not obscure the consumption change. A replacement also has a purchase cost: divide its additional cost by positive annual savings for a simple payback estimate, with maintenance considered separately.

Data sources

Last reviewed: 2026-09-08