Electricity vampires: HOME appliances secretly draining your wallet

· The South African

South Africa has access to more electricity today than it has in nearly a decade. As of September 2026, South Africa has gone more than 440 consecutive days without a single shed of load. Hurrah … that’s the longest stretch since 2018! And Eskom’s latest outlook continues to project zero load shedding through summer, into 2027, with the power utility only chasing down ‘load reduction’ instead.

However, while we may have uninterrupted electricity, your monthly bill is now the biggest it’s ever been. Eskom’s bulk tariff rose roughly 9% this year. With City Power, eThekwini and Cape Town all pushing through their own increases from 1 July 2026 (8.6% to 10.5%). And the home appliances draining your wallet are exactly as relevant now as they were in the dark days of load shedding.

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ITEMS SECRETLY SAPPING YOUR ELECTRICITY

Therefore, careless acts like leaving the TV on while you’re not watching it, or the lights on in an empty room still costs you real money. We consulted Daftlogic’s household appliance energy calculator for a practical guideline:

Appliance – Minimum / Maximum (watts)

  • Clock radio: 1W / 2W
  • Phone charger: 4W / 7W
  • Internet router: 5W / 15W
  • LED lightbulb: 7W / 10W
  • Extractor fan: 12W / 12W
  • Deep freezer: 19W / 19W
  • Curling iron: 25W / 35W
  • 42-inch LED TV: 58W / 60W
  • Laptop computer: 50W / 100W
  • Ceiling fan: 60W / 70W
  • Apple iMac: 60W / 240W
  • Fridge: 100W / 220W
  • Gaming console: 120W / 200W
  • Electric blanket: 200W / 200W
  • Vacuum cleaner: 450W / 900W
  • Washing machine: 500W / 500W
  • Microwave: 600W / 1700W
  • Toaster: 800W / 1800W
  • Iron: 1000W / 1000W
  • Tumble dryer: 1000W / 4000W
  • Air conditioner: 1000W / 4000W
  • Dishwasher: 1200W / 1500W
  • Kettle: 1200W / 3000W
  • Espresso machine: 1300W / 1500W
  • Induction hob: 1400W / 1800W
  • Airfryer: 1500W / 1500W
  • Hairdryer: 1800W / 2500W
  • Electric stove: 2000W / 2000W

CHOOSING THE MOST EFFICIENT APPLIANCES

Every watt counts when you’re trying to make ends meet on a prepaid system each month. Image: File

Miele SA’s Jon Molyneaux gives some final sage advice for anyone trying to save on energy on their household appliances: “Rather pay more upfront for efficiency if it saves more over the appliance’s life. Consider your needs and buy to size. A machine (dishwasher, washing machine or dryer) that’s too big and runs half-empty most of the time wastes more than a smaller one you actually fill. Eco settings on modern appliances now do a genuinely good job of reading the load and adjusting water and electricity to match,” concludes Molyneaux.

But what do you think? Do you have any electricity saving lifehacks for our audience? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below …

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