Tell us roughly what you use and what you pay.
£872.61 a year
That's 2,555 kWh of electricity a year at 26.32p a unit, plus 54.83p every day whether you use anything or not.
- A day
- £2.39
- A week
- £16.73
- A month
- £72.72
Your units cost £672.48 and the standing charge £200.13 — 22.9% of the bill, which you pay even in a week away.
How the figures are worked out
A year's electricity costs two things: what you use, and what you are charged for being connected. Your usage is measured in kilowatt hours (kWh) and charged at the unit rate on your tariff. The standing charge is a set amount for every day of the year, and it pays for the wires, the meter and the local network that has to be kept running whether your home uses much or nothing at all.
The calculator multiplies your usage by the unit rate, then adds the standing charge multiplied by 365 days. If you type a day, week or month of usage it first converts that to a full year, so a single day's reading is treated as if it carried on for the whole year. That matters in winter, when one cold week of heating looks far more expensive than the year will actually turn out.
Where to find your own figures
Your unit rate and standing charge are printed on your bill, and both should be shown on any quote before you sign up. If you cannot find them, your supplier's app or online account usually shows both. Your usage is on your annual statement, or you can read it from your meter and work it out yourself with the smart meter usage calculator.
What to do with the answer
The result is a starting point, not a quote. If your bill is higher than you expected, the standing charge alone may explain it: on the averages used here it is roughly a quarter of the bill, so a home that uses very little electricity still pays a meaningful amount every month. Comparing deals is where the unit rate and standing charge matter together — the lowest unit rate is not always the cheapest tariff for a low-usage home.
The starting rates are Ofgem's price cap averages for 1 October to 31 December 2026 for a default tariff paid by Direct Debit in England, Scotland and Wales, and the starting usage figures are Ofgem's medium-consumption averages. Ofgem's cap is a maximum per unit, not the price you are promised: your supplier sets your rates, they differ by region and meter type, and prepayment customers pay different rates again. Check the unit rate and standing charge on your own bill before you act on anything here.
Next steps
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