The appliances that typically draw the most electric power are those that produce heat through electrical resistance, such as electric water heaters and dryers, but they aren't necessarily the most expensive appliances to run.
Appliances that you use often, such as washing machines, and those that run continuously, such as refrigerators, can cost more to use in the long run. The most expensive appliances are older ones with inefficient motors, leaks and poor insulation.
Energy suppliers like Zesa haves asked households to use electricity sparingly, and has provided an info-graphic of the typical electricity usage per appliance for an hour.
"Familiarise yourself with the energy consumption of your appliances. Switching off unnecessary appliances can reduce the demand on the power system."
City Power of South Africa has providing a calculator showing which appliances use the most electricity.
To calculate just how much electricity your home uses, it enables you to select the number of appliances, and the number of hours it is used.
Find the calculator here
What is a kilowatt hour?
A kilowatt hour (kWh) is a measure of how much energy you're using.
If energy is transmitted or used at a constant rate (power) over a period of time, the total energy in kilowatt hours is equal to the power in kilowatts multiplied by the time in hours.
It is simply a unit of measurement that equals the amount of energy you would use if you kept a 1,000 watt appliance running for an hour: So if you switched on a 100 watt light bulb, it would take 10 hours to rack up 1 kWh of energy. Or a 2,000 watt appliance would use 1 kWh in just half an hour.
Before you consider it, though, you need to know how much energy your household consumes – and which devices use the most electricity.
The infographic below shows how much power, in kWh, typical household appliances use.
