Oven, dryer and air fryer: what they cost per hour

How much does it cost to run an oven per hour? Most electric ovens are rated between 2 and 3 kilowatts, so at Ofgem's October price cap electricity rate of 26.32 pence per kilowatt hour, an oven pulling full power costs roughly 53p to 79p an hour — and less than that in practice, because the thermostat switches off and on once the oven is up to temperature.

That is the whole trick. Once you can do one small sum, you never have to guess about any appliance again.

The one sum that turns any appliance into pence per hour

Every appliance has a rating plate — a sticker or metal panel on the back, the base, or inside the door — with a wattage on it.

Divide the watts by 1,000 to get kilowatts, then multiply by your unit rate in pence. That is your cost per hour.

So a 2,000 watt appliance is 2 kilowatts. At 26.32p a unit, 2 × 26.32 = 52.64p an hour.

Here is that sum done for you, using Ofgem's average electricity rate of 26.32 pence per kilowatt hour for 1 October to 31 December 2026:

• 0.1 kW (100 watts): 2.6p an hour
• 0.3 kW: 7.9p an hour
• 0.5 kW: 13.2p an hour
• 1 kW: 26.3p an hour
• 1.5 kW: 39.5p an hour
• 2 kW: 52.6p an hour
• 2.5 kW: 65.8p an hour
• 3 kW: 79.0p an hour

Two honest caveats. Ofgem's figure for this period excludes VAT, because the Government removed VAT from electricity bills from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027. And the price cap covers Great Britain only — in Northern Ireland the Utility Regulator sets prices instead, so use your own bill.

Kitchen: oven, hob, air fryer, slow cooker and kettle compared

Appliances that heat things are the expensive ones. Everything else is small change.

• Electric oven, roughly 2 to 3 kW: about 53p to 79p an hour at full draw. Real cost is lower, because the element cycles off once the oven reaches temperature. Treat the plate rating as the ceiling, not the bill.
• Electric hob ring, roughly 1 to 2 kW: 26p to 53p an hour, and you rarely run one for a full hour.
• Air fryer, usually 1.4 to 1.7 kW: about 37p to 45p an hour, so a 20-minute batch of chips is roughly 13p. The air fryer running cost wins not because it is efficient magic, but because it is small and quick.
• Microwave, roughly 0.8 to 1.2 kW: 21p to 32p an hour, and most uses are minutes.
• Slow cooker, often 150 to 250 watts: around 4p to 7p an hour, so eight hours is roughly 32p to 53p — cheaper than an hour of oven.
• Kettle, usually 3 kW: 79p an hour sounds alarming, but a three-minute boil is about 4p. Boiling only what you need is the saving.

If you have gas, it is worth knowing that gas costs roughly a third of electricity per unit — 7.33p against 26.11p under Ofgem's July to September cap. A gas hob or gas oven is usually the cheaper way to cook if you have both.

Laundry: washing machine, tumble dryer, heated airer and dehumidifier

This is where appliance running costs in the UK really bite from October onwards.

Washing machine. Nearly all the electricity goes on heating the water, so the temperature you choose matters more than the machine. Your energy label shows kilowatt hours per 100 cycles — divide that number by 100, multiply by your unit rate, and you have the cost of one wash. Add water and sewerage charges on top if you are on a meter.

Tumble dryer. The cost to run a tumble dryer is the biggest single number in most homes. A vented or condenser dryer is often 2.5 to 3 kW, so a 90-minute cycle is roughly 99p to £1.18. Three loads a week is about £3 to £3.50 — call it £12 to £15 a month.

Heat pump dryers are the exception to the usual rule. They move heat around rather than generating it, so they draw far less power, though cycles run longer.

Heated airer. Typically 200 to 300 watts, so about 5p to 8p an hour. Five hours is roughly 26p to 40p. Cover it with a sheet and the warm air stays in.

Dehumidifier. The cost to run a dehumidifier is usually 200 to 500 watts, so 5p to 13p an hour. Eight hours at 300 watts is about 63p. Running one in a closed room alongside an airer dries clothes for a fraction of a dryer cycle and keeps the damp out of your walls.

Heat: electric heaters, electric blankets and why they all cost the same to run

An electric heater turns essentially all the electricity it uses into heat. There is no clever version.

A 2 kW oil-filled radiator, a 2 kW fan heater and a 2 kW halogen heater all cost about 53p an hour. The difference is how the heat feels and how quickly it arrives, not what it costs.

So ignore any claim that a heater is "cheap to run" unless the wattage is genuinely lower. A 3 kW heater on full is roughly 79p an hour, or £5.53 for seven hours.

Electric blankets and heated throws are the outlier that actually works: many are 50 to 150 watts, so 1p to 4p an hour. Heating the person instead of the room is the only real shortcut here.

A dryer cycle can cost about £1; an airer with a dehumidifier costs a fraction of that.

The appliances that cost almost nothing, and the three that don't

Almost nothing: phone chargers, laptops, LED bulbs, broadband routers, televisions, radios, electric blankets, slow cookers, extractor fans. All tens of watts, all pennies a day.

The three that do: your tumble dryer, any electric heater, and your oven on long cooks. Those are the ones worth thinking about before you press start.

One more thing that costs regardless of what you switch off: the standing charge. The House of Commons Library puts the October to December 2026 direct debit averages at 54.8 pence a day for electricity and 29.7 pence a day for gas — about 84.5p a day, or roughly £25 a month, for a dual fuel home before you use a single unit.

How to find your own unit rate instead of using an average

Averages are a starting point. Your real rate depends on your region, how you pay and what meter you have.

1. Look at your latest bill or your online account for "unit rate" in pence per kilowatt hour.
2. If you have a smart meter or in-home display, the rate is usually in the settings.
3. If you are on a fixed tariff, your contract rate applies, not the cap. Ofgem said in 2026 that around 22 million accounts are on fixed deals and unaffected by cap changes.
4. Ofgem publishes a region-by-region table of cap unit rates and standing charges if you want to sanity-check yours.

If you are on Economy 7 or a similar two-rate meter, running the dryer or dishwasher overnight genuinely costs less. If you are not, the time of day makes no difference at all.

Swaps that save real money without buying anything new

• Spin the wash again before it goes in the dryer. Less water in equals less time drying.
• Dry on an airer or a dehumidifier-and-airer combination, and keep the dryer for emergencies.
• Batch-cook once in a hot oven rather than three separate half-hour bakes.
• Use the air fryer or microwave for anything for one or two people.
• Fill the kettle to the line you actually need.
• Wash at 30 degrees unless something is genuinely soiled.
• Heat yourself, not the room: blanket, throw, hot water bottle, jumper.

Questions people ask

Is an air fryer really cheaper than an oven?

Usually yes, because it is smaller and cooks faster, not because the technology is cheaper per unit. For a whole Sunday roast, the oven is still the sensible choice.

How much does a tumble dryer cost per load?

For a typical 2.5 to 3 kW vented or condenser dryer, roughly 99p to £1.18 for a 90-minute cycle at Ofgem's October cap rate. Check your own plate rating and unit rate to get your exact figure.

Does leaving appliances on standby cost much?

For most modern electronics it is pennies a week, so it is not where your money is going. It is still worth switching off, but do the dryer and heater sums first.

Will these figures change in January?

Ofgem resets the cap every three months, with the next change taking effect on 1 January 2027. The July rate was 26.11p and the October rate is 26.32p, so quarter-to-quarter shifts of that size move these numbers by about 1 per cent.

What if the bill is already more than I can pay?

Speak to your supplier and ask for an affordable payment plan, and ask to join the Priority Services Register if you are eligible. For free, independent help, contact Citizens Advice, StepChange, National Debtline or MoneyHelper — never a company that charges you.

What to do next

Check what you are actually paying a day and a year on our energy costs page, then run your latest bill through the energy bill check to compare it with the price cap. If your home is cold or damp, the warm home check sets out the grants and the fixes that save most, and if a bill has already got away from you, debt letter help points you to the free charities.

Where this comes from

• Energy price cap unit rates and standing charges — Ofgem
• Changes to energy price cap between 1 October and 31 December 2026 — Ofgem
• Changes to energy price cap between 1 July and 30 September 2026 — Ofgem
• Energy price cap will rise 4% from October 2026 — Ofgem press release
• Energy standing charges (CBP-10339) — House of Commons Library
• What is the energy price cap? — Energy Saving Trust