Household electricity examples: single person, couple and family
See three illustrative appliance budgets with visible cycle counts, annual kWh and a fixed teaching tariff. Adapt the assumptions to your own household.
Reviewed 8 November 2026. Worked figures are hypothetical unless explicitly identified as a sourced reference.
Three scenarios, not national averages
Household size alone does not determine electricity use. Time at home, programme choice, appliance size and electric heating can matter more. These invented examples isolate four appliance activities so you can reproduce the arithmetic. They are not survey findings, recommended consumption levels or complete energy bills.
All scenarios assume a fridge freezer using 200 kWh/year, laundry using 0.6 kWh/cycle, drying using 1.5 kWh/cycle, and cooking using 1 kWh/meal. These are teaching inputs, not verified model specifications. Weekly activity is multiplied by 52 weeks, deliberately unlike calculators that annualise by 365/7. The fixed example tariff is 25p/kWh, not a current market quote.
| Scenario | Laundry / drying / cooking per week | Annual kWh | Annual cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single person | 2 / 1 / 5 | 600.4 | £150.10 |
| Couple | 3 / 2 / 7 | 813.6 | £203.40 |
| Family | 5 / 4 / 10 | 1188.0 | £297.00 |
Work through the couple example
Laundry: 3 x 52 x 0.6 = 93.6 kWh. Drying: 2 x 52 x 1.5 = 156 kWh. Cooking: 7 x 52 x 1 = 364 kWh. Add 200 kWh refrigeration: 813.6 kWh/year, costing 203.40 pounds at 25p. The monthly average is 16.95 pounds; actual monthly use need not be equal.
Change an assumption before drawing a conclusion
In the couple scenario, replacing one weekly drying cycle with a suitable alternative would remove 78 kWh/year, or 19.50 pounds at this teaching rate, if that alternative used no electricity. Any dehumidifier or other extra consumption must be added back. Drying arrangements must also suit the home and its ventilation.
Build your own budget
Use the household planner to enter your actual units, activity and tariff. For these exact examples choose per-cycle rows, 52 active weeks, and one annual refrigeration row. Save the plan to a JSON file or print your results. Avoid adding a whole-house meter total on top of individual rows: that double counts their electricity.
These budgets exclude lighting, hot water, heating, entertainment, other appliances and standing charges. To estimate the full bill, check matching-period consumption and daily charges. For more reliable inputs, measure complete jobs. No external source supplies these fictional household profiles.