What an appliance costs to own
Compare purchase price, installation, electricity, water, consumables and maintenance over an explicit ownership period.
Reviewed 8 November 2026. Worked figures are hypothetical unless explicitly identified as a sourced reference.
Separate the purchase decision from the electricity calculation
A lower electricity figure answers one question. It does not include the price paid to acquire the appliance or the supplies needed to keep using it. Start with the same capacity, task and ownership period for both options. Comparing a small occasional appliance with a larger daily-use machine can conceal a different service rather than reveal a saving.
Use installed prices, not a headline discount alone. List delivery, required accessories, fitting, disconnection and disposal where they genuinely apply. If a cost is unknown, keep it marked as an assumption in your notes rather than treating an entered zero as evidence that it will be free.
Build a realistic recurring-cost basket
Choose the costs relevant to the appliance: replacement bags or filters, compatible brush heads, coffee supplies, water and wastewater, cleaning products and a maintenance allowance. A consumable's price is only useful with the replacement frequency or quantity you plan to use. The form below accepts annual budgets, not claimed averages or a prediction of repairs.
For water, use the additional cost relevant to your own charging arrangement. Do not apply an invented national water price or count a household fixed charge again merely because you buy another appliance. For electricity, use documented label units or a representative measurement.
Compare ownership-cost scenarios
All purchase and operating figures below are hypothetical. This is a budget for the costs you enter, not a product quote or a prediction of lifespan, repairs or future prices. Enter zero only where you intend to exclude a cost.
Reference: Ofgem GB average Direct Debit rate, 1 October–31 December 2026: 26.32p/kWh. Checked 8 November 2026. Use your own bill; regional and payment-method rates differ, and Northern Ireland has a separate market. Annual costs hold the entered rate constant; they are not a forecast. Standing charges are excluded. For time-of-use tariffs, calculate each rate's consumption separately and add the costs.
Total over 5 years
Difference over the entered period: £13.20.
Annual electricity components: A £131.60; B £78.96. Standing charges are excluded for this appliance comparison.
No inflation, financing, discounting, residual value or replacement cycle is modelled. Revisit the scenario if any assumption changes.
Uses your browser print dialog. Choose Save as PDF where available. Includes your current inputs and assumptions; nothing is uploaded.
Home Cost Wise - User-entered estimate, not a bill or product test. Rates and usage can change. Source and method: www.homecostwise.co.uk/methodology/
Understand what the total assumes
The model adds upfront costs to annual entered costs multiplied by your chosen years. It does not prove how long a product will last or account for inflation, borrowing, resale value, future rates or another replacement. A five-year scenario is a comparison period, not a five-year reliability promise.
Try a shorter and a longer period and vary uncertain consumable or maintenance budgets. If the preferred option changes, the result depends on those assumptions. Check service availability and exact-model parts compatibility in the buying guides; a mathematical total cannot establish quality, comfort or reliability.
Replacing a working appliance is a different comparison
When choosing between two purchases you already need, compare their installed price difference. When considering replacing something that still works, compare the full additional replacement cost with the realistic cost of keeping it. Avoid treating money already spent as a new purchase cost for the existing appliance.
Simple electricity payback can be a useful first check, but it omits the other costs above. Our savings sensitivity analysis shows how the same premium behaves under different assumed energy reductions.
Sources and limits
Energy Saving Trust: appliances and energy ratings supports matching size and function when using efficiency information. Government energy-labelling guidance describes product-information evidence. Our cost-basket framework and hypothetical calculations are original; neither source supplies the example purchase, maintenance or lifespan figures.