Surprise household appliance could be adding £85 a year onto your energy bills

FAMILIES might not know that a surprise household appliance could be adding £85 onto your energy bills.

Slow cookers are popular among time-strapped parents looking to make a hassle-free dinner – but it could be driving up your energy bills.

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Households are battling against crippling energy bill hikes, with some having to put 50% more of their weekly budget towards gas and electricity costs.

Prices are about to go up even more, with the new energy price cap – which sets the maximum amount suppliers can charge customers – set to rise from £1,277 to £1,900.

That means families will have to find an extra £600 to cover these costs – or an extra £76 a month.

Experts predict energy bills could rise again in October to over £2,000 a year.

It means that many families are urgently looking at ways to cut their bill to try and beat the eye-watering hikes – and your slow cooker could be a good place to start.

It could be costing you £85.26 to run a year, according to research from Magnet.

That’s if you use it every day for seven hours, which is the amount of time it takes to cook a meal in there.

In total, that uses up to 434,350 watts of electricity.

If you use your slow cooker very frequently, it might be cheaper to swap it for the oven – which costs less to run.

If you use your oven once a day for 30 minutes to cook your grub, you’ll be paying £77.02 per year.

And it costs more to run than your air fryer – which costs £53.74 a year.

The most expensive household appliance to run, according to Magnet, is your dishwasher.

If it’s used once a day, you could be coughing up £266 a year for it.

A fridge freezer is the second most expensive appliance to power, costing £257.94 a year, while your tumble dryer is setting you back £134.34 a year if you use it once a day.

How to save cash on your bills

One way to save cash on your energy costs is to cut your usage.

Swapping your tumble dryer for a clothes airer means you’re not paying a penny to dry your clothes.

While putting on your dishwasher less and washing up in a bowl could knock money off your bill too.

When you’re not using your household appliances, remember to switch them off properly.

The Energy Saving Trust estimates you could save around £35 a year by remembering to turn them off properly.

Simply turning your thermostat down by one degree could save you as much as £55 a year.

Check out our list of common boiler problems that could be pumping up your bills too.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk