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Electricity Bill for a Single person in an apartment in the UK (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 1,600 kWh of electricity a year. At United Kingdom prices of £0.26 per kWh (source: Ofgem price cap 1 Jul–30 Sep 2026, 2026-07), that is £34.67 per month, or £416.00 per year.

Benchmark: Ofgem Typical Domestic Consumption Values, decision May 2026, effective 1 July 2026: Low user (single-rate). Data as of 2026-07. It covers Profile Class 1 is standard single-rate homes, mostly gas heated. Profile Class 2 is multi-rate (Economy 7) homes, typically electrically heated.

Where the electricity goes

Other appliances 54%
Refrigeration & freezing 15%
TV, computing & network 9%
Cooking 9%
Washing, drying & dishwashing 9%
Lighting 5%

End use	Per year	Cost	Share
Refrigeration & freezing	240 kWh	£62.35	15%
Cooking	140 kWh	£36.29	9%
Washing, drying & dishwashing	138 kWh	£35.77	9%
TV, computing & network	143 kWh	£37.31	9%
Lighting	83 kWh	£21.46	5%
Other appliances	857 kWh	£222.82	54%

End-use shares: DESNZ Energy Consumption in the UK 2025, Table U3, domestic electricity 2024: space heating 14.5%, water heating 4.1%, cooking 7.1%, lighting 4.2%, appliances 70.1%. The split of 'appliances' into cold, wet, electronics and other is not published and is derived from US RECS proportions. Some of these shares are derived rather than published; see the note. This benchmark excludes heating & cooling and water heating, which are on gas or counted separately in this country's statistics.

Through the day

Illustrative shape of a typical day: each band's area equals that end use's share of 4.4 kWh a day. The timing is a standard household pattern, not a measurement, and it changes with season and habits.

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	4.4 h	240 kWh	£62.35
Washing Machine ×0.4	Washing, drying & dishwashing	500 W	1.9 h	138 kWh	£35.77
Hair Dryer	Other appliances	1,800 W	9 min	99 kWh	£25.62
LED Light Bulb ×5	Lighting	9 W	5.0 h	83 kWh	£21.46
Induction Cooktop ×0.5	Cooking	1,800 W	15 min	81 kWh	£21.07
Television	TV, computing & network	100 W	1.5 h	55 kWh	£14.40
Laptop	TV, computing & network	45 W	3.0 h	50 kWh	£12.96
Vacuum Cleaner ×0.5	Other appliances	1,000 W	15 min	46 kWh	£11.86
Wi-Fi Router	TV, computing & network	10 W	9.1 h	33 kWh	£8.64
Electric Kettle	Cooking	2,000 W	2 min	27 kWh	£7.02
Microwave	Cooking	1,000 W	4 min	23 kWh	£5.85
Toaster	Cooking	1,000 W	1 min	9 kWh	£2.34
Phone Charger	TV, computing & network	10 W	46 min	3 kWh	£0.72
Streaming Stick or Box	TV, computing & network	4 W	1.5 h	2 kWh	£0.58
Small appliances, standby and items not listed	Other appliances	–	–	713 kWh	£185.34

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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.