Experts reveal the biggest household appliances draining your power bill

Heaters are some of the most power hungry appliances. Sick of the kids leaving the lights on? If you are trying to save money on your power bill, experts say your attention is probably better focused elsewhere. STAYING WARM Heating and cooling is by far the biggest drain, worth about 40 per cent of power use in the average home, says CHOICE household expert and senior project officer Chris Barnes. Portable electric heaters are less energy efficient than reverse cycle air conditioners due to the way they work. “Reverse cycle aircon is the most efficient,” Barnes says. “When you’re heating, it’s extracting heat from the outdoor air. You might think, ‘but it’s winter, it’s cold.’ Yeah, not as far as physics is concerned – there’s a ton of energy still in the air even at cold temperatures.” Reverse cycle air conditioners use a smaller amount of electricity to convert the energy from the outside air to generate heat. Electric heaters, on the other hand, use about the same amount of electricity as what they output in heat. Reverse cycle air conditioners are more energy efficient than electric heaters. He says while a 2 kilowatt electric heater would produce 2 kilowatts of heat, reverse c...