What each appliance costs to run
Your bill is a single number. This section takes it apart. 27 appliances, each with the wattage they actually draw in Pakistani conditions, realistic running hours, and the units that produces in a month — with the working shown so you can substitute your own hours.
One calculation underlies everything here: watts × hours ÷ 1,000 = units. Everything else is detail about how long a thing really runs, which is where published estimates usually go wrong.
Ranked by monthly units, heaviest first
Each figure below uses the first duty cycle listed on that appliance’s page, which is the most typical rather than the most extreme. Open the page to see the other scenarios.
| Appliance | Typical watts | Usage assumed | Units / month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air conditioner (1.5 ton, non-inverter) | 1800 W | Bedroom, night only (8 hours, thermostat 26 °C) | 297 |
| Inverter air conditioner (1.5 ton) | 1100 W | Bedroom, 8 hours at 26 °C, well matched to the room | 264 |
| Electric room heater | 1800 W | One room, four hours an evening | 216 |
| Electric geyser (storage water heater) | 2000 W | Timer, one hour before each of two bathing times | 120 |
| Deep freezer | 250 W | Chest freezer, winter (compressor on ~9 hours) | 67.5 |
| Water dispenser | 550 W | Cooling only, hot tank switched off (compressor ~4 hours) | 66 |
| Air cooler (evaporative) | 190 W | Bedroom, night (9 hours) | 51.3 |
| Refrigerator | 160 W | Modern medium fridge, winter (compressor on ~8 hours) | 38.4 |
| Desktop computer | 150 W | Office desktop plus monitor, eight hours | 36 |
| Instant water heater | 4500 W | Two short showers a day (15 minutes total) | 33.8 |
| Ceiling fan | 65 W | One bedroom fan, summer (16 hours) | 31.2 |
| Pedestal and bracket fans | 70 W | One pedestal fan, summer evening and night (12 hours) | 25.2 |
| Water pump (motor) | 750 W | Overhead tank filling twice a day (1 hour total) | 22.5 |
| Clothes dryer | 2500 W | Two loads a week, one hour each | 21.8 |
| Electric iron | 1200 W | Half an hour daily | 18 |
| UPS / home inverter | 180 W | Light load, two hours of outage a day, recharging | 16.2 |
| Electric kettle | 1800 W | Four boils a day (about 16 minutes total) | 14.6 |
| LED television | 90 W | 43 inch, five hours a day | 13.5 |
| Microwave oven | 1300 W | Reheating, twice daily (20 minutes total) | 12.9 |
| Laptop computer | 45 W | Work laptop, eight hours | 10.8 |
| Washing machine | 500 W | Twin-tub, cold water, four washes a week (1 hour each) | 8.6 |
| Tube lights (fluorescent and LED) | 45 W | One tube, six hours a night | 8.1 |
| Wi-Fi router and ONT | 10 W | Continuous, as almost everyone runs it | 7.2 |
| Exhaust fan | 45 W | Kitchen during cooking (2 hours) | 2.7 |
| LED bulbs | 12 W | One bulb, six hours a night | 2.2 |
| Juicer, blender and food processor | 600 W | Everyday use (6 minutes) | 1.8 |
| Mobile phone charging | 18 W | One phone, full charge daily (about 1.5 hours effective) | 0.8 |
Cooling
- Air conditioner (1.5 ton, non-inverter) — 1800 W typical.
- Inverter air conditioner (1.5 ton) — 1100 W typical.
- Ceiling fan — 65 W typical.
- Pedestal and bracket fans — 70 W typical.
- Air cooler (evaporative) — 190 W typical.
- Exhaust fan — 45 W typical.
Winter heating
- Electric room heater — 1800 W typical.
Refrigeration
- Refrigerator — 160 W typical.
- Deep freezer — 250 W typical.
Water heating and pumping
- Electric geyser (storage water heater) — 2000 W typical.
- Instant water heater — 4500 W typical.
- Water pump (motor) — 750 W typical.
- Water dispenser — 550 W typical.
Kitchen
- Microwave oven — 1300 W typical.
- Electric kettle — 1800 W typical.
- Juicer, blender and food processor — 600 W typical.
Laundry and ironing
- Washing machine — 500 W typical.
- Clothes dryer — 2500 W typical.
- Electric iron — 1200 W typical.
Lighting
- LED bulbs — 12 W typical.
- Tube lights (fluorescent and LED) — 45 W typical.
Electronics
- LED television — 90 W typical.
- Desktop computer — 150 W typical.
- Laptop computer — 45 W typical.
- Wi-Fi router and ONT — 10 W typical.
- Mobile phone charging — 18 W typical.
Backup power
- UPS / home inverter — 180 W typical.
Questions about appliance consumption
Which appliance uses the most electricity in a Pakistani home?
In summer, the air conditioner — a 1.5 ton unit at a moderate setting is around 300 units a month on its own. In winter, an electric geyser left switched on, which can reach 540 units a month, followed by electric room heaters. Both exceed everything else in the house combined.
How do I convert appliance watts into units on my bill?
Multiply watts by hours used, then divide by 1,000, to get units per day. A 2,000 watt geyser for two hours is 2,000 × 2 ÷ 1,000 = 4 units a day, or about 120 units a month. Every figure on these pages is built from that one calculation.
Why do these numbers differ from the wattage printed on my appliance?
Rating plates state maximum draw, and several appliance types spend most of their time well below it. A refrigerator's compressor runs perhaps half the hour; an iron and a geyser cycle under thermostat control; a computer's power supply rating is a capability rather than a consumption. These pages use realistic running figures and state the duty cycle explicitly.
Does using less electricity move me back into a lower slab?
Yes, and the effect is larger than the units saved suggest, because slab pricing is progressive and protected consumer status depends on staying at or below 200 units in every one of the last six months. Cutting a single heavy load can therefore change the rate applied to everything else.
Do the arithmetic on your own house
- Appliance consumption calculator — add your own appliances and hours.
- Bill calculator — turn a monthly unit total into an estimated amount.
- Reducing your bill — what to change once you know where the units go.
- What a unit actually is — watts, kilowatt-hours, tons and horsepower.