How the estimate is built
Instead of one appliance at a time, this tool adds up an entire household. Every item carries a typical annual electricity figure — for example a fridge-freezer around 330 kWh a year, a tumble dryer around 350 kWh, an electric water heater around 1,600 kWh. You set how many of each you own; a few water- and cooking-related items also scale gently with the number of people in the home. Multiply everything by your country's price per kWh and you have a yearly cost.
The donut shows where that money goes by category — heating, cooling, hot water and laundry, kitchen and fridge, electronics and lighting, and other big loads such as an EV charger or pool pump. The biggest-users list ranks the individual appliances that cost you the most, which is usually where any real saving hides.
Why the year is not a flat line
A realistic bill rises and falls with the seasons. Heating appliances are weighted towards the cold months and cooling towards the hot ones, sitting on top of a steady base load from things that run all year (fridge, router, standby). That is why the month-by-month chart has a winter hump, a summer hump, or both, rather than a straight line. Because seasons flip below the equator, you can switch between the Northern and Southern hemisphere pattern — it is set automatically from your country and you can override it.
The solar what-if
Turn on solar panels and enter a system size in kWp. We estimate how much a system that size generates in your country over a year, spread it across the months (more in summer, less in winter), and subtract what your home can use directly. The headline updates to what you would still pay, and the monthly chart shows the green after-solar line dipping hardest in the sunny months. It is a first-look what-if, not a full solar quote — self-consumption, feed-in tariffs and shading all matter in real life.
Assumptions and limits
Annual figures are rounded averages for normal use of a mid-range model; a very old or very efficient unit can differ a lot. The estimate covers electricity only — gas heating, cooking or hot water are not included, and it excludes standing charges and taxes, which are a fixed part of most bills. It is meant to help you see the shape of your consumption and the appliances worth targeting, then move to the single-purpose calculators or the appliance running-cost pages for a precise figure on any one device.
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is the home energy estimate?
It is a good ballpark, not a bill. Each appliance uses a typical real-world annual figure and your country's average price; the totals land close to a normal household but your own tariff, models and habits will move the number. Change any quantity to match your home.
Why does the monthly chart go up in winter and summer?
Heating is weighted towards the cold months and cooling towards the hot ones, on top of a flat base load. That is why the bill is not a straight line — it has a winter and a summer hump depending on what you own and which hemisphere you pick.
How is the solar saving worked out?
We estimate yearly generation from your system size and your country's sunshine, spread it across the year (more in summer), and subtract what your home can use directly each month. The remainder is what you would still pay.
Is my data sent anywhere?
No. Everything runs in your browser. The only thing that leaves your device is the share link you choose to copy, which encodes your inputs so someone can open the same estimate.