How much are your beauty appliances costing you?
Looking for a way to cut your soaring energy bills? Find how how much your everyday beauty appliances are costing you to run.
With energy bills currently 54% more than they were last year, and set to rise yet again in October, many households are trying to reduce their energy use, or at least gain a stronger understanding of how much their appliance actually cost to run.
To help you save money, Jenny McCormac from Brandrated reveals the cost of the most popular beauty and wellness appliances, from hair dryers to facial steamers, and offers advice on how to minimise the energy use and, therefore, the added cost.
How much does your hair dryer cost you?
An average hair dryer uses 2300 watts, or 2.3kW, to work. This means a 30-minute session will cost £0.32. Assuming you blow dry your hair twice a week, this can add up to £33.28 to your energy bill per year.
As this can be an expensive addition to your bill, and this average price is only expected to rise once the price cap increases in October, there are other methods you can use to reduce the cost. Wait until your hair is around 80% air dryer before using a hairdryer means less time and therefore energy is required to dry and style hair completely.
How much do your straighteners cost you?
Hair straighteners don’t typically use too much energy, in fact, the average straightener uses just 0.12kW. For 30 minutes of use, this will cost just £0.03. Assuming use of just once a week, this will add £1.75 to your annual energy bill, however, if you are part of the 63% of British women who use their straighteners every day, then this can increase to £10.95.
How much do your curling irons cost you?
Slightly higher than straighteners, curling irons use on average of 200 watts when in use. For half an hour of power, this will cost just £0.028 (for ease we will round this up to £0.03.) For an hour’s use, the price of power increases to £0.056 (round up to £0.06.)
If you use your curling irons for one hour every day for a year, this will add up to £20.44 extra to your energy bill. There are numerous hacks you can find online to help make curls last longer, from heatless hair curlers to even using socks to maintain the curl overnight, heat is not the only way to keep hair curly.
How much does your LED light-up mirror cost you?
Once reserved for starlets in their dressing rooms, light-up mirrors have become a staple in many fashionistas’ bedrooms. Such mirrors have been designed to provide optimal lighting conditions for the person standing in front of them, helping with make-up application, taking selfies or even vlogging.
The majority of modern light-up mirrors use LEDs as they are the most energy-efficient lighting technology out there, as they typically use 85% less electricity when compared to incandescent or fluorescent lighting. LED bulbs each use around 8 watts of electricity to work.
Considering an average dressing table mirror uses 12 bulbs, this will add up to 96 watts, or 0.09 kW, to use. Per hour of use, turning your light-up mirror on will cost just £0.0252 (for ease, we will round this up to £0.03.) If you keep the mirror on for a full 24 hours – which is highly unadvisable as despite the risk of LED bulbs overheating is low, it is not impossible – this will add £0.60 to your bill.
For a whole year, this can add up to an enormous £220.75 to your energy bill. Even if you leave the mirror on for 12 hours per day for the whole year, this will still add an extra £110.38 to your bill.
How much does your facial steamer cost you?
Face steaming is not only a great way to pamper yourself and relax after a long day, but it has numerous skin and health benefits too. As facial steaming helps promote circulation, this helps your skin look firmer and younger. It also helps with colds and flus as steam relieves sinus congestion and headaches that accompany this.
Facial steamers typically run on very low wattage, with the maximum being 150 but generally they use 100 watts to work. For a 30-minute session, which is the recommended amount of time, this will only cost £0.01. As it is recommended to use a facial steamer twice a week, this will add £1.04 to your annual bill.
Photo by Sherise VD
