Marcus Bell
Marcus is an electrical engineer who spent most of his career in building services, sizing circuits for housing associations. He builds the calculators on Vukla, sources the wattage figures from manufacturer specification sheets, and keeps the tariff data current.
Articles by Marcus
How much does a toaster cost to use in the UK?
A 1.2 kW two slice toaster uses about 0.06 kWh for a three minute round, which is 1.6p at the current price cap. Making the same toast under an electric cooker grill costs about five times as much once the preheat is counted.
EntertainmentHow much does it cost to run an Xbox Series X per hour in the UK?
An Xbox Series X draws 154 watts in an average game according to Microsoft's own lab, which costs 4.1p an hour at the current price cap and 12.2p for a three hour session. Sleep mode left on between sessions can cost almost as much as the gaming.
KitchenHow much does a bread maker cost to run per loaf in the UK?
A bread maker uses about 0.36 kWh for a standard white loaf, which is 9.5p at the current price cap. Two loaves a week comes to £9.85 a year, and the same loaf in an electric oven costs four times as much.
GardenHow much does a pond pump cost to run per month in the UK?
A 40 watt pond pump running 24 hours a day costs 25p a day and £7.66 a month at the current price cap. A small 6 watt ornament pump costs £1.15 a month, while a 200 watt pump feeding a big filter or waterfall costs £38.32.
KitchenHow much does an induction hob cost to run per hour in the UK?
An 18 cm induction ring at full power draws 1.8 kW, which costs 47p an hour at the current price cap. A plug in induction hob can never pass 3.7 kW, so its ceiling is 97p an hour with every zone flat out.
HeatingWhat does electric underfloor heating cost per hour to run in the UK?
Electric underfloor heating at 150W per square metre costs 3.9p per square metre an hour at full output, so a 4m² bathroom costs 15.8p an hour. Warmup's own average, reworked at today's cap, brings that bathroom to about 7.1p an hour once the floor is warm.
Personal careHow much does it cost to run a hair dryer in the UK?
A typical 1,800 watt hair dryer costs 7.9p for a ten minute dry at the current price cap and 47.4p for a full hour. A 2,100 watt model costs 9.2p for the same ten minutes, and almost all of that electricity goes on the heating element.
EntertainmentHow much does it cost to run a desktop PC and monitor per hour in the UK?
An ordinary desktop PC with a 24 inch monitor draws about 77 watts, which costs 2.0p an hour at the current price cap and 16p for an eight hour working day. A modern mini PC idling costs a fifth of that, and the monitor is often the part people forget to count.
HeatingWhat does a halogen heater cost per hour to run in the UK?
A 1,200W halogen heater costs 31.6p an hour on full at the current price cap, 21.1p on the middle setting and 10.5p on the lowest. It is cheaper per hour than a 2kW fan heater because it is a smaller heater, and it only wins when it is pointed at you.
LaundryHow much does a washer dryer cost per load in the UK?
A washer dryer uses about 3.22 kWh to wash and dry a load on its energy label, which is 84.8p at the current price cap against 14.9p for the wash on its own. Three loads a week come to about £132.21 a year.
HeatingWhat does a fan heater cost per hour to run in the UK?
A 2kW fan heater costs 52.6p an hour on full at the current price cap and 26.3p on the half setting. Cool blow costs about a penny, and three hours a night for a month comes to £47.38 if the thermostat never cuts in.
LaundryHeated airer against tumble dryer, which is cheaper to run per load?
A 300W heated airer costs about 32p for a four hour session. A tumble dryer costs about 66p a load. Here is the full arithmetic, and the catch nobody mentions.
EntertainmentDoes leaving a phone charger plugged in cost anything at all?
A charger left in the wall with no phone on it costs about 23p a year at the current price cap. The broadband router next to it costs £23.06 a year, which is where the attention belongs.
EntertainmentHow much does it cost to run a PS5 per hour in the UK?
Sony's own measured figures put a PS5 at 215 watts in game, which is 5.7p an hour at the current price cap. A three hour session costs 17.0p and rest mode costs about £4 a year.
KitchenHow much does a microwave cost to run per hour, and per reheat?
A microwave costs about 34p an hour at the current price cap, but a five minute reheat is only 2.9p. The catch is that the wattage on the door is not the wattage you pay for.
LaundryHeat pump against condenser tumble dryer, the real cost per load
A heat pump dryer costs about 39p a load against 66p for a condenser, but the per hour figure everyone quotes is wrong because the compressor never runs flat out.
EntertainmentHow much electricity does a Wi-Fi router use per month if you never switch it off?
A 10 watt router left on around the clock uses 7.3 kilowatt hours a month and costs £1.92 at the current price cap. Here is the arithmetic and why switching it off overnight can backfire.
GardenHow much does it cost to run a hot tub per month in the UK?
An inflatable hot tub held at temperature uses 17.45 kilowatt hours a day on the maker's own test, which is £4.59 a day and £139.70 a month at the Ofgem cap rate. Winter costs more, and switching it off between soaks rarely pays.
HeatingHow much does it cost to run an electric shower for an hour, and per shower?
An 8.5 kW electric shower costs £2.24 to run for a full hour at the Ofgem cap rate, and 29.8p for a normal eight minute shower. The kilowatt figure on the front of the unit is all you need to work out your own.
GardenHow much does it cost to charge an electric car at home per month in the UK?
Charging at home on the standard price cap rate costs about £43 a month for a Tesla Model 3 doing 800 miles, or £49 for a Nissan Leaf. Move the same charging to an overnight EV tariff and the monthly figure drops to about £13.
HeatingHow much does it cost to run an immersion heater per hour in the UK?
A 3 kW immersion heater costs 79.0p an hour at the Ofgem cap rate, and heating a full 120 litre cylinder from cold costs £1.65. A gas boiler does the same job for about 59p, which is why the immersion is usually the backup rather than the plan.
EntertainmentHow much electricity does a gaming PC use per month in the UK?
Three hours of gaming a day on a mid range build costs about £9.48 a month at the current price cap. Leaving the same machine idling around the clock costs another £15 on top, which is the part nobody budgets for.
KitchenHow much does it cost to run a chest freezer per month in the UK?
A 298 litre chest freezer uses 231 kilowatt hours a year, which is £5.07 a month at the Ofgem cap rate. A small 104 litre model costs £4.67 and a tired old unit can reach £8.77, and the energy label tells you which one is sitting in your garage.