The appliance is a fixture of kitchens across the UK.
The electricity costs of all the appliances add up. (Image: Getty)
That’s a 7%-reduction on the current price cap of 27.69p per kWh, with Ofgem saying the main cause of the drop is Government budget interventions. It means your electricity bills may soon be lower overall, but it’s worth being aware of how having multiple appliances connected can add up over time.
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This includes toasters, which are a fixture of kitchens across the UK. Toast cycles generally last around 2-3 minutes, with most budget models heating up two slices at a time.
Though power consumption will vary between models, many toasters have an power assumption of approximately 1,000 watts, a figure Smart Money Tools’ Electricty Cost Calculator uses as default for the appliance.
If we also follow the site’s default usage of six minutes per day, a reasonable ball park if people are doing two rounds in the morning, we can work out roughly how much that would add to your elecricity bill over 12 months.
According to the tool, based on that level of usage, your toaster might add £9.98 to your energy bill over 12 months under the current cap (27.69p per kWh).
That’s made up of a cost of £0.05 per 10 mins, £0.03 per day, or £0.83 per month. It appears the tool factors in use rate, explaining why the cost per 10 minutes is higher than it is per day.
Under the April 1 price cap (24.67p), costs for this level of usage over 12 months could drop to around £9.01, made up of: £0.04 per 10 minutes, £0.03 per day, or £0.75 per month.
And while the estimate gives you an illustrative sense of the costs the cap represents over a longer period, the maximum limit on unit rates and standard charges is reviewed by the regulator every three months and doesn’t remain in place for a full year.
Meanwhile, the standing charge will rise slightly from its current 54.75p level to 57.21p per day. The April 1 price cap will apply until June 30, with the next cap level announced on May 27.