If saving money on your electricity bill has become a priority, then you may be thinking about cutting down your usage for non-essential items around the home. Let’s take a closer look at how much a vacuum cleaner costs to run and whether it’s a device you could do without.
How much does it cost to run a vacuum cleaner?
This depends on the wattage of your vacuum cleaner. In most cases, expect to pay between 15 and 32 pence per hour if you have a modern machine. For vacuum cleaners made before 2017, you could pay between 48 and 75 pence per hour.
Saving money on your electric
Over the last few months, I have written a lot of posts about the cost to run various electrical items. A little while back, few of us really cared because electricity was fairly cheap. But as prices have risen sharply in recent times, we’ve become more cost aware.
Vacuum cleaner vs Hoover
Before we get started, I need to clear one thing up. People often mention Hoover when they’re talking about a vacuum cleaner. Hoover is a make of vacuum cleaner, like Shark and Dyson. However, I seem to be the only person that cares.
Anyway…
How much electricity does a vacuum cleaner use?
Before getting to cost, we need to work out how much electricity a vacuum cleaner uses.
As I’m sure you’re aware there are now two main types of vacuum cleaners on the market – those powered by the mains and those powered by a battery.
Due to regulations brought in by the EU back in 2017, modern mains-powered vacuum cleaners now use far less energy and usually consume anything between 450 and 950 watts. Vacuum cleaners bought before this point could use over double the amount of power.
A lot of people complained at the time, but it now seems like quite a good idea.
How much does it cost to run a vacuum cleaner?
The table below breaks down the cost of various powered vacuum cleaners if they’re used for 1 hour, 3 times per week and over the course of a year.
I’ve assumed that you’re paying 34 pence per kWh, the price cap set for October 2022.
| 1 hour | 1 week (3 hours) | 1 year | |
| 450W | 15 pence | 46 pence | £23.95 |
| 750W | 25 pence | 76 pence | £39.92 |
| 950W | 32 pence | 97 pence | £50.56 |
| 1400W | 48 pence | £1.43 | £74.51 |
| 1800W | 61 pence | £1.84 | £95.80 |
| 2200W | 75 pence | £2.24 | £117.09 |
How much does it cost to run a cordless vacuum?
Unfortunately, there’s no one answer to this question. It really depends on the power of your vacuum and how efficient the battery is. And don’t forget, a battery’s efficiency gets worse over time.
In some cases, a battery can be charged in 2 hours, whilst others can take 12. Some cordless vacuums can last for barely 15 minutes, whilst others can run closer to an hour.
All I can do is give you an idea of how much my Shark vacuum costs to use. The battery takes 3 hours to charge, which gives me around 20 minutes of running time.
The cost to charge the battery from flat to full works out at 9 pence, which means that my cordless vacuum costs around 27 pence per hour to run.
Any alternatives?
If you really don’t think you can afford to run your vacuum cleaner, the fact is, you’re going to struggle to find a suitable alternative. You could try something like this floor sweeper, which works for both carpets and hard floors. They’re relatively cheap to buy and don’t have any running costs.
Floor sweepers have been around since the late 1800s and do a fairly decent job. But, they will never compare to an electrically powered vacuum cleaner.
Apart from that, you could try a dustpan and brush or a lint roller. These will go some way to cleaning carpets but will take a lot of effort.
You could also use a small, damp sponge to clean your carpets. Again, this will take a lot of time and you need to make sure that your carpets don’t get too wet.
Further reading
Why not take a look at my post on the best energy saving devices?