UK households who drink tea hit with £54.72 charges from April 1

It’s something we probably all do every day, several times a day – especially if you work from home.

Energy prices have been at the centre of a lot of scrutiny in the past week with the war in the Middle East causing an instant spike in gas wholesale prices which has seen many cheap fix deals disappear overnight.

Fortunately, the price cap change, down 6.6% from April, is locked in and can’t be altered now, but forecasts for the July price cap suggest the cost of gas and electricity supply could shoot up by as much as 10% later in the year.

For now, the Ofgem gas and electricity price caps will go down by £117 for average use households from April 1, which makes the price of everything from running the washing machine to cooking in the oven go down by 6.6% as well.

While the cost of a cuppa is probably not something you really think about, the kettle is actually one of the most power hungry appliances in your kitchen – it just tends to only be used for short bursts, so you don’t necessarily notice.

According to magazine Saga, a typical kettle has a 3kW element and a 1.7 litre capacity.

From April 1, Ofgem’s price cap is going down slightly to 24.67p per kWh for electricity.

The average kettle takes four minutes to boil a full kettle (though you can and should save money by boiling less than a full kettle if you’re only making one to two cups at a time).

According to a survey by YouGov, the average British person enjoys 884 cups of tea per year, or an average of 2.5 cups per day.

Assuming the kettle is being an average of 2.5 times per day, it would cost 15p per day to boil the water for your teas, or £54.72 per year based on the April price cap figures (though this is likely to rise in July).

Apart from simply drinking less tea, there are ways you could cut your usage. If you only boil the amount you need, rather than a full kettle load, it cuts your usage down by about £20 a year.

Saga explains in its guidance: “An average cup holds around 235ml (8fl oz) of water. A 3kW kettle will boil this amount of water in around 45 seconds. Therefore, only boiling the amount you need could reduce 6p to 1.1p.”

Another tip is to clear limescale out of your kettle. Saga added: “If you live in a hard water area and struggle with limescale, knowing how to descale a kettle is essential – not only for improving taste, but also for reducing the time it takes to boil your kettle. Allow the limescale to build up and the electricity or gas will have to work harder to heat the water.”

Finally, the best thing to do is to grab a cheap fix. There are still some cheaper energy fixes on the market which are lower than the April price cap, though they are disappearing fast. It’s not too late to sign up for a cheap fix if you’re not currently on a fix and slash your costs before they rise due to the escalating Iran war.