How Much Does It Cost to Run a Hair Dryer in the UK? (2026)

Hair dryers are among the highest-wattage appliances in the house, but they run for minutes. Ten minutes a day at 1,800 watts is about 0.3 kWh.

A typical hair dryer (1,800 W) costs £0.47 per hour, or about £2.13 per month at 0.15 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 1,200 W	£0.32	£0.047	£1.42	£17.29
Typical 1,800 W	£0.47	£0.071	£2.13	£25.94
High 2,200 W	£0.58	£0.087	£2.61	£31.70

Formula: watts ÷ 1000 × hours × price per kWh. Typical use is 0.15 h/day ≈ 99 kWh per year.

One hour of a hair dryer (1.8 kWh) is the same electricity as

10km in an electric car
18hours of TV
40hours of a laptop
200hours of an LED bulb

Electricity per year at typical use, on a log scale: #33 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 hair dryer costs £0.47 per hour and about £25.94 per year at 0.15 hours a day. Each £1.00 of electricity buys roughly 2.1 hours of use.

How to lower the cost of running a hair dryer

Towel dry first to cut drying time in half.
Use a lower heat setting with high airflow.
Keep the intake filter clean so the motor does not strain.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to use a hair dryer for 10 minutes?

About 0.3 kWh, a few cents almost anywhere.

Do hair dryers use a lot of electricity?

Per minute yes, per year no. Even daily use is under 100 kWh a year.

Is a lower wattage hair dryer cheaper to run?

It draws less but takes longer, so the total energy per dry is similar.

Cost by region

US states

Canadian provinces

Related appliances

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