33.4pper kWh
Have a poke about
What does it actually cost to run?
Slide your unit rate to whatever's on your bill and every price below moves with it. No yearly guesswork — just what one use of each thing costs you. The dearest single use here is EV charge (100 miles) at £10.02 a go.
Laundry & cleaning
7Tumble dryer (vented)
Calculated
2.5 kWh · 2.5 kW, ~1 hr cycle · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
The dearest thing in most houses. An airer costs nothing.
84p
per load
Tumble dryer (heat pump)
Calculated
1.05 kWh · ~1 kW average · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Slower, but roughly a third of the vented cost.
35p
per load
Washing machine at 40°C
Calculated
1 kWh · 7 kg, eco 40 · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Same machine at 30°C uses about a third less.
33p
per load
Dishwasher (eco cycle)
Calculated
0.9 kWh · 12 place, eco · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Usually beats washing by hand under a running tap.
30p
per load
Iron
Calculated
0.8 kWh · 2.4 kW, 20 mins · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Do a pile in one go while it's hot.
27p
per session
Washing machine at 30°C
Calculated
0.65 kWh · 7 kg, eco 30 · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Modern powders are made for cold washes.
22p
per load
Vacuum cleaner
Calculated
0.3 kWh · 900 W, 20 mins · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Cheap. Hoover away.
10p
per clean
Kitchen
10Electric oven (1 hour)
Calculated
2 kWh · 2 kW average · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Batch cook while it's up to temperature.
67p
per hour
Slow cooker (6 hours)
Calculated
1.2 kWh · 200 W · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Hours of cooking for pennies.
40p
per meal
Fridge freezer (a day)
Calculated
0.8 kWh · ~290 kWh a year · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Always on — keep the back coils dust-free.
27p
per day
Air fryer (30 mins)
Calculated
0.75 kWh · 1.5 kW · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Genuinely cheaper than heating the big oven.
25p
per use
Chest freezer (a day)
Calculated
0.7 kWh · ~250 kWh a year · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
A full freezer runs cheaper than a half-empty one.
23p
per day
Electric hob ring (20 mins)
Calculated
0.6 kWh · 1.8 kW · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Lid on the pot and it boils far quicker.
20p
per use
Microwave (10 mins)
Calculated
0.15 kWh · 900 W · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
By far the cheapest way to reheat.
5p
per use
Kettle (full)
Calculated
0.15 kWh · 3 kW, ~3 mins · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Only boil what you'll actually drink.
5p
per boil
Toaster
Calculated
0.05 kWh · 1 kW, 3 mins · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Not worth a second thought.
2p
per round
Kettle (one mug)
Calculated
0.04 kWh · 3 kW, ~50 secs · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
A quarter of the cost of filling it.
1p
per boil
Hot water & heating
7Immersion heater (1 hour)
Calculated
3 kWh · 3 kW · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Grand in a hurry, dear as a daily habit.
£1.00
per hour
Fan heater (1 hour)
Calculated
2 kWh · 2 kW · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Fine for one room, brutal for a whole house.
67p
per hour
Dehumidifier (6 hours)
Calculated
1.8 kWh · 300 W · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Often cheaper than drying clothes on the radiators.
60p
per session
Oil-filled radiator (1 hour)
Calculated
1.5 kWh · 1.5 kW · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Holds its heat, so the thermostat cycles off.
50p
per hour
Electric shower (10 mins)
Calculated
1.4 kWh · 8.5 kW · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Knock a minute off each one and you'll see it.
47p
per shower
Hair dryer (10 mins)
Calculated
0.3 kWh · 1.8 kW · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Short bursts, small money.
10p
per dry
Electric blanket (1 hour)
Calculated
0.1 kWh · 100 W · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Heat the bed, not the bedroom.
3p
per night
Tech & telly
7Gaming PC (3 hours)
Calculated
1.2 kWh · ~400 W · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
The one bit of tech that genuinely adds up.
40p
per session
Games console (3 hours)
Calculated
0.6 kWh · ~200 W · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Turn rest mode off — it sips all night.
20p
per session
55" LED TV (4 hours)
Calculated
0.4 kWh · 100 W · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Far less than most people assume.
13p
per evening
Laptop (8 hours)
Calculated
0.4 kWh · 50 W · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Cheaper than a single kettle-and-a-half.
13p
per work day
Stuff left on standby (a day)
Calculated
0.3 kWh · ~12 W total · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Small each, but it never stops.
10p
per day
Broadband router (a day)
Calculated
0.24 kWh · 10 W · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Always on, and not worth switching off.
8p
per day
LED bulb (5 hours)
Calculated
0.04 kWh · 8 W · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
An old halogen would cost seven times this.
1p
per evening
Out the back
3EV charge (100 miles)
Calculated
30 kWh · ~30 kWh · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Still far cheaper per mile than petrol — a night rate helps more.
£10.02
per 100 miles
Hot tub (a day)
Calculated
4 kWh · ~4 kWh keeping warm · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Keep the cover on and the temperature down.
£1.34
per day
Pressure washer (20 mins)
Calculated
0.6 kWh · 1.8 kW · at 33.4p a unit
Bully's take
Loud, but cheap.
20p
per use
Every price on this page is just
kWh × 33.4p
So the lower your unit rate, the cheaper every single one of them gets. A typical home in Northern Ireland uses around 3,200 kWh of electricity a year, so shaving one penny off the rate saves about £32 of that.
Let Bully do it
One photo and your job's done
Not sure what unit rate you're actually on? Photograph your bill and I'll read it off for you — then check if anyone's cheaper. And if a switch means a form, BILLOCKS, I'll fill that in too.
Where these numbers come from
Each figure is a typical appliance power rating multiplied by a normal length of use — the same method the Energy Saving Trust and the Consumer Council use. Your own appliance could be a bit thirstier or a bit better, so treat these as a fair way to compare one thing against another rather than an exact bill. The unit rate is yours to set — it's the pence per kWh figure printed on your own electricity bill, and the slider starts at the middle of what suppliers in Northern Ireland are actually charging today (Consumer Council for Northern Ireland price comparison tables).