How Much Does it Cost to Run?
Learning how much our energy use costs is key to understanding how to use less and to saving money. To illustrate this, the table below shows how much it would cost to run a number of different appliances for set amounts of time. You can, however, make these calculations yourself if you know how much a unit (kilo Watt hour- kWh) of electricity costs you. This information is displayed on your bill. You will also need to know what the power rating of your appliance is - usually displayed on a label on the appliance itself (on the back or underside), as well as a calculator.
Electric oil radiator 2000 Watts (2kW)
Electric Sandwich Toaster 700-760 W (0.7-0.76kW)
If the label on your appliance says 2kW then it would use 2kWh’s if it was left on for an hour. If the appliance is displayed in watts it is easy to convert to kW as there are 1000 watts in a kW – the formula is below.
Watts ÷ 1000 (to get kW) x minutes ÷ 60 = consumption. Then multiply this by unit cost (eg.14p)
Using the radiator above as an example, running for 8 hours, the calculation would be:
2000 ÷ 1000 x 480 ÷ 60 = 16 x 14 = £2.24
So to run this radiator for 8 hours will cost £2.24!
Over a week this would cost £15.68 and £62.72 over a month.
The typical payback time for an Inverter heat pump system would be 5 years if used instead of this type of heating.