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Electricity Bill for a Single person in an apartment in France (2026)
One adult in a one or two room flat. The fridge runs all year, cooking is quick, and a laptop and TV cover the evenings. Nothing runs long enough to dominate.
A single person in an apartment uses about 1,905 kWh of electricity a year. At France prices of €0.20 per kWh (source: EDF Tarif Bleu, 2026-08), that is €31.75 per month, or €381.00 per year.
Benchmark: France publishes no figure by household type. This is the Enedis national average of 4,287 kWh scaled by the German Stromspiegel ratio for this household type (1,200 ÷ 2,700). Data as of 2024. It covers average over all 32 million residential sites, about 12 million of which are electrically heated; no official split by household size exists.
Where the electricity goes
- Heating & cooling 31%
- Water heating 15%
- Refrigeration & freezing 14%
- Other appliances 12%
- TV, computing & network 11%
- Cooking 7%
- Washing, drying & dishwashing 6%
- Lighting 3%
| End use | Per year | Cost | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heating & cooling | 591 kWh | €118.11 | 31% |
| Water heating | 291 kWh | €58.29 | 15% |
| Refrigeration & freezing | 269 kWh | €53.72 | 14% |
| Cooking | 137 kWh | €27.43 | 7% |
| Washing, drying & dishwashing | 114 kWh | €22.86 | 6% |
| TV, computing & network | 208 kWh | €41.53 | 11% |
| Lighting | 59 kWh | €11.81 | 3% |
| Other appliances | 236 kWh | €47.24 | 12% |
End-use shares: ADEME Panel Elecdom, année 4 (2023), share of total household electricity: chauffage 26.3% + auxiliaires 1.8% + ventilation 2.9%, eau chaude 15.3%, froid 14.1%, cuisine 7.2%, audiovisuel 6.3% + informatique 4.6%, lavage/séchage 6.0%, éclairage 3.1%, other (extérieur, mobilité, divers) 12.4%. These shares are official.
What drives this household's bill
- The fridge is usually the single largest item because it never switches off.
- Cooking with the oven instead of the microwave or air fryer is the easiest cost to cut.
- Standby draw across router, TV, console and chargers can reach a fifth of the total.
Appliance by appliance
Each end-use bucket above is spread over this household's appliances in proportion to their typical use, never at more than twice that use. What the listed appliances cannot account for appears as "not listed" rows, so the table still adds up to the official figures. Hours are implied, not measured.
| Appliance | End use | Typical | Hours/day | Per year | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Refrigerator | Refrigeration & freezing | 150 W | 4.9 h | 269 kWh | €53.72 |
| Washing Machine ×0.4 | Washing, drying & dishwashing | 500 W | 1.6 h | 114 kWh | €22.86 |
| Hair Dryer | Other appliances | 1,800 W | 9 min | 99 kWh | €19.71 |
| Television | TV, computing & network | 100 W | 2.2 h | 80 kWh | €16.03 |
| Induction Cooktop ×0.5 | Cooking | 1,800 W | 15 min | 80 kWh | €15.93 |
| Laptop | TV, computing & network | 45 W | 4.4 h | 72 kWh | €14.43 |
| LED Light Bulb ×5 | Lighting | 9 W | 3.6 h | 59 kWh | €11.81 |
| Wi-Fi Router | TV, computing & network | 10 W | 13.2 h | 48 kWh | €9.62 |
| Vacuum Cleaner ×0.5 | Other appliances | 1,000 W | 15 min | 46 kWh | €9.12 |
| Electric Kettle | Cooking | 2,000 W | 2 min | 27 kWh | €5.31 |
| Microwave | Cooking | 1,000 W | 4 min | 22 kWh | €4.42 |
| Toaster | Cooking | 1,000 W | 1 min | 9 kWh | €1.77 |
| Phone Charger | TV, computing & network | 10 W | 1.1 h | 4 kWh | €0.80 |
| Streaming Stick or Box | TV, computing & network | 4 W | 2.2 h | 3 kWh | €0.64 |
| Small appliances, standby and items not listed | Other appliances | – | – | 92 kWh | €18.41 |
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The same household in other countries
| Country | Official benchmark | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States (average) | 7,184 kWh | $1,293 | $107.76 |
| United Kingdom | 1,600 kWh | £416.00 | £34.67 |
| Germany | 1,200 kWh | €444.00 | €37.00 |
| France | 1,905 kWh | €381.00 | €31.75 |
| Australia | 3,109 kWh | A$1,088 | A$90.68 |
| Canada (average) | 6,583 kWh | C$921.62 | C$76.80 |
Each row uses that country's own regulator benchmark and average price, in local currency. Differences reflect climate, heating fuel and appliance ownership as much as price.
Compare this household
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