As our bills continue to spike and household costs soar, understanding how we use our household appliances – and how much this costs us – is essential. Changing how, when and how often we use them could make a significant difference to the bills at the end of the month.

Of course, there are appliances we can’t simply unplug and use less, such as the fridge and freezer, but we can be more savvy with our usage and perhaps more economical with use of things like the dryer, hot water heating, and household electronics.

Forget plugging your phone in to charge overnight and instead just have leave it for the hour or two it actually needs and then unplug. Similarly, don’t leave the fridge or freezer door open for too long – grab what you need and close the door immediately. Teach your family not to ‘browse’. According to the SEAI, for every 10-20 seconds the door is open it takes 45 minutes for the fridge to cool down to its original temperature.

Download our cheat sheet to the cost of household appliances and electronics so you can keep track of where your biggest costs are, and hopefully make some cost-saving changes.

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With a little planning and awareness around which of your appliances cost the most to run, there are quite effective ways to reduce the use of household appliances and electronics. All it takes is a few simple changes to make sure your gadgets stay useful and not costly.

1. Only run the dishwasher when it is full.
2. Only boil as much water as you need, not a full kettle.
3. If the oven is on, use it to bake or cook multiple things at the same time. Meal planning will help with this – cook today and tomorrow’s dinner at the same time, then reheat portions in the microwave when needed.
4. Use your slow cooker more, it uses considerably less energy than the oven.
5. Use the microwave – it uses less energy than the oven as it heats only the food and not the whole internal space.
6. Use a tiered steamer to cook several items in one pot at the same time.
7. Turn down the washing machine – lower temperatures use less energy. Clothes that are not very soiled can be washed at 30c. According to Energy Saving Trust, washing machines, dishwashers and anything else that uses water are known as ‘wet appliances’. These appliances take the top spot in terms of how much energy they use, accounting for 16% of total energy bill costs. The power needed to heat the water that they use pushes up consumption, making them energy-hungry household appliances.
8. Skip the dryer. Use an indoor clothes airer or outdoor clothes line to dry clothes.
9. Don’t leave your water on all the time. Set your water timer to come on 30-60 minutes before it will be needed (e.g. morning showers, kids bath time, etc)
10. Have tiles or wooden floors? Consider sweeping up rather than vacuuming every time.
11. Turn the shower off and don’t waste hot water while you shampoo your hair, wash your body, etc.
12. Don’t leave the water running – obviously not an environmentally friendly choice at any time, but in particular with the hot water that you’re paying to heat.
13. Skip the hairdryer and towel dry your hair instead.
14. Turn devices off standby or unplug when not in use. Don’t forget about lamps, chargers, etc.
15. Don’t leave computers and laptops on standby or in ‘sleep’ mode; turn it off if not using it for more than an hour.