Exact time you should use four household appliances for cheapest energy bills | The Sun

USING your household appliances at certain times of the day could cut your energy bills – we explain how.

Big household appliances like tumble dryers and washing machines are notorious energy guzzlers, but there are ways of cutting costs.

One way to do this is by picking the cheapest times of the day to run your appliances – if you're on the right tariff.

Usually the cost of gas and electric is the same, so putting a washing machine or tumble dryer on in the day or at night won't change that.

But there are special tariffs where you pay a cheaper price for energy in the night compared to the day.

These are called "time of use tariffs", or Economy 7 or 10 tariffs.

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You’ll commit to using most of your energy at night, and you can get a good discount for the units you use during these off-peak hours.

Exactly when you should run your appliances at night will vary depending on when your suppliers' off peak hours are.

Each supplier choses their own Economy 7 times.

For example, Bulb's special tariff hours vary across the country – so you'll need to check your contract for exact times – but off-peak hours are usually somewhere between 10pm and 8am.

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EDF customers will see off-peak hours vary too – but they'll fall somewhere between 11pm and 8am.

Uswitch crunched the data on how much British Gas customers can save on an Economy 7 tariff for four household appliances.

To make the savings, you should run your appliances between 12am and 7am during the winter and 1am to 8am during the summer.

That's if British Gas installed your meter – if another supplier did, cheaper tariff times will be between 10pm and 9am.

These are based on the current price cap rate – which is set at £1,971 a year – but this will soar by roughly 80% in October when the cap will jump to £3,549.

You'll only make the savings if you keep to using your appliances during these strict timeframes.

Here's how much you can save for these four common household appliances if you run them during night hours instead of during the day.

It's important to note that an Economy 7 deal might not suit everyone's lifestyle.

Exact savings can vary depending on the model of your appliances, and the settings you use on them.

Plus, you should be careful of running electrical appliances like these overnight when you're asleep as it can be a fire risk.

But it can be worth it – savvy saver Scott Dixon told The Sun that he saves £725 a year on his Economy 7 tariff.

Tumble dryer – save £159 a year

It is estimated that the typical UK household puts on 270 loads of washing a year.

If you use your tumble dryer each time to dry your clothes, the costs could soon add up.

Putting your dirty laundry on a 90 minute cycle would cost you £1.29 during the day each time – which totals £348.30 a year

But save your washing for the night would cost 70p per spin, totalling £189 a year.

That means you'll be saving a total of £159.30 a year.

It's a good idea to limit the amount of times you're using the tumble dryer to drive this saving down further.

Hang your clothes on a drier instead and let them dry naturally.

Washing machine – save £135 a year

Washing your clothes at night could mean a significant £135 a year saving.

Putting your laundry on 270 times a year would cost £1.08 on an Economy 7 day rate per go, adding up to £291.60 a year.

But washing your clothes during the evening rate period would cost you 58p a spin, adding up to £156.60 a year.

That marks a saving of £135 a year.

There are other tricks to lower your washing machine energy bill.

Switching to 30 degree washes will save you £12 a year, according to Energy Saving Trust.

While setting it to a high speed spin could save you £40, according to British Gas engineer Joanna Flowers.

Dishwasher – save £150 a year

Dishwashers are certainly convenient – but you could be hit with a bill sting if you don't use it during off-peak times.

Washing the dishes will cost you 88p per go on daytime rates – which means if you used your dishwasher once a day for a year, you'd be spending £321.20.

But run it during off-peak hours costs 47p a go, which would cost £171.55 over the course of a year – marking a saving of £149.65.

To save even more money, make sure you fill the dishwasher fully up – running it half full just wastes energy, and money.

Kettle – save £15 a year

We all love a cuppa – but you boiling the kettle during peak hours will cost more.

If you boil the kettle once a day, it costs 8p – which over the year will cost you £29.20 on a daytime tariff.

Boiling it at night, however, costs 4p each time – which over the year will set you back £14.60.

That means you'll be saving £14.60 using the kettle at night.

If you're not keen on the idea of waking up super early just to have a cup of coffee, you could do what Sun reader Sue Conlan does and fill up a flask.

She boils the kettle just once a day and fills up a big flask that keeps her hot drinks warm all day.

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