How Much Does It Cost to Run a Bread Maker in the UK? (2026)

A bread maker draws 400 to 800 watts during baking but only a few watts while kneading and rising. A full 3 hour loaf uses about 0.4 to 0.6 kWh, about a third of an oven bake.

A typical bread maker (600 W) costs £0.16 per hour, or about £2.37 per month at 0.5 hours a day in the UK. Cheap to run

Electricity price region

Hours used per day

Wattage	Per hour	Per day	Per month	Per year
Low 400 W	£0.11	£0.053	£1.58	£19.21
Typical 600 W	£0.16	£0.079	£2.37	£28.82
High 800 W	£0.21	£0.11	£3.16	£38.43

Formula: watts ÷ 1000 × hours × price per kWh. Typical use is 0.5 h/day ≈ 110 kWh per year.

One hour of a bread maker (0.60 kWh) is the same electricity as

3.3km in an electric car
6.0hours of TV
13hours of a laptop
67hours of an LED bulb

Electricity per year at typical use, on a log scale: #36 of 95 appliances, from least to most.

In the UK, with electricity at 26.3p per kWh (source: Ofgem price cap 1 Oct–31 Dec 2026, 2026-10), a typical bread maker costs £0.16 per hour and about £28.82 per year at 0.5 hours a day. Each £1.00 of electricity buys roughly 6.3 hours of use.

How to lower the cost of running a bread maker

Use the rapid cycle when you can. It shortens the rise but bakes the same.
Bake larger loaves. Energy per loaf barely changes with size.
Unplug it between uses if the display stays lit.

In standby it draws about 1 W, which adds roughly 9 kWh (£2.31) per year if it is never unplugged.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to make a loaf in a bread maker?

About 0.5 kWh of electricity, a few cents in most regions.

Is a bread maker cheaper than the oven?

Yes. The oven heats a much larger space for the same loaf.

Does a bread maker use electricity during rising?

Very little, just enough to hold a warm temperature.

Cost by region

US states

Canadian provinces

Related appliances

Use the generic electricity cost calculator · Which uses more? Take the quiz