Those with a slow cooker who use it at least once per week face £23.09 charges from April 1. Ofgem is lowering the energy price cap from that date, meaning Brits will pay less per year for their energy usage. The energy authority has said that households on a standard variable tariff (default tariff) who pay for their electricity by Direct Debit will now pay on average24.67pence per kilowatt hour (kWh).
This is good news for Brits, who might notice a difference in the cost of running certain appliances. Slow cookers have become popular across the UK over the past few years, as they save a lot of time in the kitchen. Things like roast beef and pulled pork are super easy to make in the slow cooker, and people can switch them on to start cooking before they leave for work, and the food will be ready upon their return in the evening. But how expensive are these devices to use, and are you better off using an oven?
We have done some calculations to help you figure out how much you can expect to pay. This is based on using the slow cooker for eight hours, which is how long it takes to cook things like roast beef and pork.
We also came up with the annual price based on the usage of the slow cooker once per week, so 52 times in a year. According to GoCompare, the average slow cooker uses between 200W and 250W.
With Ofgem's new price of 24.67pence per kilowatt hour (kWh), we were able to deduce that slow cookers will, on average, cost just £23.09 per year to run after April 1.
Here is a more detailed breakdown, based on a formula provided by energy experts Bluetti:
- (225 x 8) ÷ 1,000 = 1.8KWh
The wattage is multiplied by the hours used and divided by 1,000. This brings us to 1.8KWh. This, multiplied by the new average hourly cost, is 44.406p.
- 24.67 x 1.8 = 44.406p
If you are using your slow cooker for this amount of time once per week throughout the year, you would then multiply this single-use cost by 52. This brings us to an annual price of £23.09.
- 44.406p x 52 = £23.09
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While slow cookers typically take longer to cook your food than an oven, they use much less energy. According to GoCompare, an average electric oven uses between 2,000 and 5,000 watts of energy, over 10 times higher than the energy consumption of a slow cooker
According to Ofgem, the new daily standing charge is57.21 pence per day. This is based on the average across England, Scotland and Wales and includes VAT at 5%.
The price drop comes as the Government recently announced that the funding for two environmental and social schemes will either end or be funded through general taxes from April 2026. Energy customers will now save an average of £150, the energy regulator states.
