What your appliances cost to run
Most advice about appliance running costs is a list of watts, which is not an answer to anyone's question. What people want to know is what the thing costs them a year, at the price they actually pay for electricity, and whether it is worth doing anything about.
That is what this section is. Set your state — or your own rate — and every figure here becomes yours.
The dearest things in an Australian house
Ranked by what they cost to run in a year. The order surprises most people: the appliance that costs the most is rarely the one that draws the most power, it is the one that runs the longest.
| Appliance | Power | Per year | Cost per year | Per week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EV home charger (7 kW) | 7000 W | 3833 kWh | $1,269 | $24.40 |
| Pool pump (single speed) | 1100 W | 2640 kWh | $874 | $16.80 |
| Spa or hot tub | 2000 W while running | 2500 kWh | $828 | $15.91 |
| Ducted reverse cycle (whole house) | 4000 W | 2400 kWh | $794 | $15.28 |
| Portable fan heater | 2400 W | 1440 kWh | $477 | $9.17 |
| Oil column heater | 2000 W | 1200 kWh | $397 | $7.64 |
| Pool pump (variable speed, low) | 300 W | 900 kWh | $298 | $5.73 |
| Aquarium (heated, 200 L) | 200 W while running | 700 kWh | $232 | $4.46 |
| Clothes dryer (vented, 6 kg) | 2400 W | 582 kWh | $193 | $3.71 |
| Split system, heating (3.5 kW) | 950 W | 570 kWh | $189 | $3.63 |
| Fridge-freezer (400–500 L) | 150 W while running | 450 kWh | $149 | $2.86 |
| Dehumidifier | 500 W | 450 kWh | $149 | $2.86 |
| Electric oven | 2400 W | 438 kWh | $145 | $2.79 |
| Electric cooktop (radiant) | 2000 W | 438 kWh | $145 | $2.79 |
| Second fridge in the garage | 130 W while running | 400 kWh | $132 | $2.55 |
At New South Wales's reference rate of 33.1c per kWh. Seasonal appliances are counted over the part of the year they are actually used — a fan heater running five hours a day for four months, not for twelve. Set your own rate in My home to see your figures.
Why the plate rating tells you almost nothing
There are two kinds of appliance and confusing them is how most appliance calculators go wrong.
Things you switch on
A kettle, a heater, a dryer, an oven. These draw their rated power the whole time they are on, so the maths really is watts times hours, and the rating is the whole story. A 2,400 W fan heater costs 2.4 times as much per hour as a 1,000 W one, exactly as you would expect.
Things that cycle on and off by themselves
A fridge, a freezer, a spa. The compressor runs a fraction of the time, decided by the thermostat, the insulation and how warm the room is. A 150 W fridge does not use 150 W all day — it uses about 450 kWh a year, which works out at an average draw closer to 50 W. For these, the only useful number is the measured annual figure from the Energy Rating scheme, and any calculator that asks you how many hours a day your fridge runs is telling you it does not understand refrigerators.
Our calculator handles the two differently and shows you which is which.
Seasonal appliances, counted seasonally
A fan heater running five hours a day costs about $477 a year in New South Wales. Multiply the same five hours across all 365 days, as many published figures quietly do, and you get $1,450 — a figure three times too high for an appliance nobody switches on in February.
Every heater, cooler and fan on this site carries the number of days a year it is actually used: about 120 for heating, 90 for cooling, 300 for a pool pump. It is a small thing that makes a large difference to the ranking, and it is adjustable if your household is different.
The swaps that are actually worth making
Ranked by what each one saves a year at your state's rate. These are changes with a real number attached, not general advice about switching things off at the wall.
| Change | Before | After | Saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Run a variable speed pool pump | $874 | $298 | $576 a year |
| Heat with a reverse cycle split instead of a fan heater | $477 | $189 | $288 a year |
| Swap a vented dryer for a heat pump dryer | $193 | $69 | $124 a year |
| Wash cold instead of warm | $52 | $13 | $39 a year |
| Cook on induction instead of radiant electric | $145 | $121 | $24 a year |
At New South Wales rates and typical usage. The second fridge in the garage is not on this list because the saving there is the whole $132 — there is nothing to swap it for.
Everything, by category
Refrigeration
| Appliance | Per year | Cost per year |
|---|---|---|
| Fridge-freezer (400–500 L) | 450 kWh | $149 |
| Second fridge in the garage | 400 kWh | $132 |
| Chest freezer (200 L) | 300 kWh | $99 |
| Bar fridge (120 L) | 200 kWh | $66 |
Laundry
| Appliance | Per year | Cost per year |
|---|---|---|
| Clothes dryer (vented, 6 kg) | 582 kWh | $193 |
| Dishwasher (normal cycle) | 286 kWh | $95 |
| Clothes dryer (heat pump, 8 kg) | 208 kWh | $69 |
| Washing machine (warm wash, 40 °C) | 156 kWh | $52 |
| Iron | 66 kWh | $22 |
| Washing machine (cold wash) | 39 kWh | $13 |
Heating & cooling
| Appliance | Per year | Cost per year |
|---|---|---|
| Ducted reverse cycle (whole house) | 2400 kWh | $794 |
| Portable fan heater | 1440 kWh | $477 |
| Oil column heater | 1200 kWh | $397 |
| Split system, heating (3.5 kW) | 570 kWh | $189 |
| Dehumidifier | 450 kWh | $149 |
| Split system, cooling (3.5 kW) | 324 kWh | $107 |
| Ceiling fan | 58 kWh | $19 |
| Pedestal fan | 48 kWh | $16 |
| Electric blanket | 24 kWh | $8 |
Kitchen
| Appliance | Per year | Cost per year |
|---|---|---|
| Electric oven | 438 kWh | $145 |
| Electric cooktop (radiant) | 438 kWh | $145 |
| Induction cooktop | 365 kWh | $121 |
| Electric kettle | 240 kWh | $80 |
| Air fryer | 219 kWh | $72 |
| Coffee machine | 128 kWh | $42 |
| Slow cooker | 100 kWh | $33 |
| Microwave | 88 kWh | $29 |
| Rangehood | 38 kWh | $13 |
| Toaster | 37 kWh | $12 |
Entertainment & office
| Appliance | Per year | Cost per year |
|---|---|---|
| Desktop computer | 328 kWh | $109 |
| OLED television (65 inch) | 204 kWh | $68 |
| LED television (55 inch) | 131 kWh | $43 |
| Set top box | 131 kWh | $43 |
| Laptop | 110 kWh | $36 |
| Games console | 110 kWh | $36 |
| Wi-Fi router and modem | 88 kWh | $29 |
Outdoors & other
| Appliance | Per year | Cost per year |
|---|---|---|
| EV home charger (7 kW) | 3833 kWh | $1,269 |
| Pool pump (single speed) | 2640 kWh | $874 |
| Spa or hot tub | 2500 kWh | $828 |
| Pool pump (variable speed, low) | 900 kWh | $298 |
| Aquarium (heated, 200 L) | 700 kWh | $232 |
| Hair dryer | 99 kWh | $33 |
| Vacuum cleaner | 77 kWh | $25 |
Frequently asked questions
What is the most expensive appliance to run in an Australian house?
Excluding hot water and an electric car, it is usually the pool pump if you have a pool, and ducted reverse cycle air conditioning if you do not. A single-speed pool pump running eight hours a day comes to around $874 a year in New South Wales — more than the fridge, the dryer and the television put together. Ducted reverse cycle over a heating season runs to about $794.
Is the second fridge really worth getting rid of?
Usually, yes. An older fridge in a garage or shed costs around 400 kilowatt hours a year to run — about $132 in New South Wales, more in South Australia — and it is typically an old unit working hard in a hot space. Unlike most savings on this page there is nothing to buy and nothing to swap: the saving is the whole amount, every year, for the cost of unplugging something.
Does leaving things on standby cost much?
Individually, very little. Collectively it is real but smaller than most people think — a typical Australian household's standby load runs to somewhere between $60 and $120 a year across every device. The one worth knowing about is the modem and router, which draws about 10 W and genuinely never switches off, costing around $29 a year on its own. Chasing standby is a reasonable habit; it is not where the money is.
Is a heat pump clothes dryer worth the extra money?
On our figures a heat pump dryer costs about $69 a year against $193 for a vented one at four loads a week in New South Wales — roughly $124 saved. Against a price premium of $600 to $1,000, that is a five to eight year payback, which is close to the life of the machine. It is worth it if you dry a lot of washing, and marginal if you use the line most weeks. The heat pump model also takes noticeably longer per load.
Do these figures include the daily supply charge?
No, and deliberately. The supply charge is what you pay to be connected at all — $0.63 to $2.72 a day depending on where you live — and it does not change whatever you plug in. Including it would make every appliance look more expensive than it is and would make comparisons between them meaningless. The calculator shows the supply charge separately when it totals up your list, so you can see the whole bill without it distorting the individual figures.