How much does it really cost to run your appliances?

While it’s not realistic to switch everything off (after all, your fridge still needs to keep your leftovers safe), there are smarter moves you can make like running appliances during cheaper time-of-use windows, or using timers to stop devices from sipping “vampire” power when you’re not using them. But firstly it helps to know how much your appliances are actually costing you!

Here’s a simple way to work it out yourself:

* To find an appliance's kilowatt (kW), first locate the energy label or rating plate on the appliance itself to find its wattage (W). Convert watts to kilowatts by dividing by 1,000 (1000 W = 1 kW)

So for example lets say a plug in fan heater running for 1 hour uses 2.4 kWh. At peak (on our Octopus Flexi standard user plan**) it would be charged at approximately $0.48/kWh, so that's around $1.50 to run for one hour. 

We’ve put together a table of common appliances and approximately how much they would cost to run for 1 hour at peak, off-peak and night, on our OctopusFlexi standard user plan.

The figures above are approximate values only and based on typical kWh values of the appliances listed. The information supplied is not a guarantee of power savings, and appliance power use can be impacted by other variables.

**Peak, offpeak and night rates above are based on our OctopusFlexi standard user plan in the Vector network, your exact rate may vary depending on your plan or network. For ease of the calculations the above rates also include a portion of your daily charge. For example: if your daily charge is $2.40, and you were using an appliance for one hour, 10 cents would be included in the peak/offpeak/night rate as its share of that daily cost.

Now let’s compare the price to cook some chips in the oven vs the air fryer, looking at peak rates on our OctopusFlexi Standard user plan. 

Oven
Typical oven power rating: 2.4kW
Typical time: 30 minutes

kW x hours in use
2.4 x 0.5 = 1.2 kWh

kWh x cost of electricity
1.2 x 0.48 = 0.57
$0.57 for 30 minutes 

Air fryer
Typical air fryer power rating: 1.5kW
Typical time: 20 minutes

kW x hours in use
1.5 x 0.33 = 0.495 kWh

kWh x cost of electricity
0.495 x 0.48 = 0.24
$0.24 for 20 minutes

In this instance running your air fryer will save you some money, around $120 a year if you were using it daily, so should you be switching to cooking with your air fryer only? Not necessarily. Consumer NZ found that air fryers often work out cheaper for less than 30 minutes of cooking time, while an oven works out better value for more than 30 minutes. You can read more about that here.

What about boiling the kettle vs microwaving water (gasp) to make your tea? Again we’re using peak rates on our OctopusFlexi Standard user plan. 

Kettle
Typical kettle power rating: 2kW
Typical time (to boil water): 2.5 minutes

kW x hours in use
2 x 0.04 = 0.08  kWh

kWh x cost of electricity
0.08 x 0.48 = 0.038
$0.04, 4 cents for boiling your kettle

Microwave
Typical microwave power rating : 1kW
Typical time: 1.5 minutes

kW x hours in use
1 x 0.025 =  0.025 kWh

kWh x cost of electricity
0.225 x 0.48 = 0.012
$0.01, 1 cent for microwaving that same cup of water

The cost difference is pretty negligible but you can make small changes like only boiling the actual amount of water you need, rather than filling the kettle each time, to reduce the amount of electricity you use.

Energy Rating Labels 

You can’t exactly switch off your fridge or freezer daily and replacing them on a whim isn’t realistic either. But when it does come time for a new one, choosing an energy-efficient model can make a real difference to your power bill. That’s where those handy energy rating labels come in, giving you a quick way to compare which appliances work the most efficiently. 

Simply put, the more stars the more efficient. Genless has a great summary about how to best read the Energy Rating Labels here.

Vampire power 

Even when they’re not in use, many appliances quietly sip away at your power - a sneaky drain known as “vampire power” or “phantom load.” Simply switching devices off at the wall can add up to real savings. For example, Consumer NZ found that some printers left on standby 24/7 could be costing around $10 a month.

Smart timers are another easy win. It’s easy to forget things like heated towel rails, but left running all day and night they can add about $180 a year to your bill. A simple heated towel rail timer from your local hardware store solves that in seconds. The same goes for plug-in heaters and other devices - set them up with a programmable timer so they’re only drawing power when you actually need them.

Small daily changes can make a big difference to your power bill. From switching appliances off at the wall to using timers, or choosing energy-efficient models when it’s time for an upgrade, there are plenty of simple ways to save. Once you know roughly how much your appliances cost to run, you can make smarter choices about when (and how) to use them. 

Learn more:
Consumer NZ Appliance Running Costs
Genless Energy Rating Labels