Energy-saving buys that actually pay for themselves (and the ones that don't)

Heated clothes airer (~£40–£60)

A tumble dryer cycle uses around 2–2.5 kWh — call it 55–65p per load. A heated airer draws about 230W, so even a long four-hour dry costs roughly 24p, and clothes finish overnight either way. Dry three loads a week on the airer instead of the dryer and you're saving £1 or more a week through the colder months — the airer has typically covered its price by spring, then saves you money every winter after that. Bonus: it's far gentler on clothes, which is its own quiet saving.

Buying tip: get a winged or three-tier model with a cover — the cover roughly halves drying time by trapping the heat.

Electric blanket or heated throw (~£30–£60)

This is the single best pound-per-degree-of-cosiness purchase in existence. A heated throw draws around 100–160W — roughly 3–4p per hour. Compare that with running gas central heating to warm a whole house for one person watching telly. If a heated throw lets you delay switching the heating on by even an hour a night, it pays for itself within a season.

Buying tip: look for overheat protection, a timer, and machine-washability. A throw beats an under-blanket if you want to use it on the sofa as well as the bed.

Air fryer (~£45–£120)

The honest version of the air fryer story: it saves money because it's small and fast, not because it's magic. A 1.4 kW air fryer running 15 minutes costs about 9p; heating a full-size 2.2 kW oven for 40 minutes costs about 23p. Cook five oven-style meals a week in the air fryer instead and you save roughly £35 a year — so a £45 model pays back in around 15 months, while a £200 flagship takes years.

This is exactly what our Cost-Per-Use Calculator was built for: a cheaper dual-drawer model used daily beats a premium one used twice a week, every time.

Draught excluders and window insulation film (~£8–£25)

The Energy Saving Trust puts typical savings from basic draught-proofing at tens of pounds a year — and the materials cost buttons. Brush strips for doors, self-adhesive foam seal for window frames, a letterbox brush, and clear insulation film for single-glazed or draughty windows. An afternoon's work, and unlike gadgets there's no running cost at all.

Radiator reflector panels (~£10–£20)

These reflect heat back into the room instead of letting it soak into the wall. They genuinely help — but only behind radiators on external, uninsulated walls. In a modern insulated home the effect is marginal. Older solid-wall terrace or semi? Worth a tenner. New build? Skip it.

Smart plugs with energy monitoring (~£10–£15 each)

A smart plug doesn't save energy by existing — it saves energy if it changes behaviour. Where they earn their keep is finding your real standby villains (old set-top boxes, gaming consoles left in rest mode, ancient audio gear) and killing them on a schedule. Buy one or two with energy monitoring, audit the house, then decide. Buying eight on day one is how gadgets end up in drawers.

Plug-in "voltage optimiser" / power-saving boxes

The little plug-in devices that claim to cut your electricity bill by "stabilising" your supply are, to put it politely, not supported by physics. Domestic appliances are billed on the energy they use, and these boxes don't change that. Trading standards bodies have repeatedly warned about them. Save your £20.

Cheap plug-in mini heaters ("500W wonder heaters")

Marketed as costing "pennies to run" — technically true, because they barely produce any heat. Per unit of warmth, all electric resistance heaters cost exactly the same to run; a smaller one just means less heat, not cheaper heat. If you need spot heating, the heated throw above does the same job for a tenth of the running cost because it heats you, not the air.