Average household electricity usage: how does yours compare?

Ofgem’s typical UK home uses 2,500 kWh a year (low 1,600, high 3,800); the average US home 863 kWh a month (2024). Compare yours and estimate your bill.

By the Wisiko editorial team · Published 12 October 2026 · 3 min read

Enter the usage shown on your bill or in your supplier app (annual or monthly kWh), pick a benchmark, and adjust the unit rate and standing charge to match your tariff. The calculator estimates your yearly electricity bill, how far you are above or below the benchmark, and what the benchmark homes would pay at the same price.

UK: Ofgem’s typical usage figures

Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain, publishes typical domestic consumption values (TDCVs). They are the lower quartile, median and upper quartile of real household meter readings (from government subnational consumption statistics), averaged over the two latest years. Ofgem cut them on 1 July 2026 because household use has kept falling:

*Price cap from 1 October to 31 December 2026, Direct Debit average for England, Scotland and Wales: 26.32p per kWh and a standing charge of 54.83p a day (about £200 a year). There is no VAT on household electricity from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027. Your regional rates may differ.

The “medium” figure is the one used for the headline price cap. If your usage is close to 2,500 kWh a year, you are a typical single-rate household; multi-rate homes, often with electric storage heaters, typically use more (3,400 kWh at the medium level).

US: about 863 kWh a month

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average residential customer bought 863 kWh a month in 2024, for an average bill of $142.26 a month at 16.48¢ per kWh. Usage varies a lot with climate and heating fuel:

Southern states such as Louisiana, where electric heating is common and air conditioning runs for months, use more than twice as much as California or Hawaii, where prices are high and the climate milder. At the latest monthly average price (18.31¢ per kWh in July 2026), 863 kWh would cost about $158 a month.

France: measured homes

In France, ADEME’s Panel Elecdom meters 100 homes chosen to match the national housing stock. From July 2023 to July 2024 the average home used 3,957 kWh (flats 2,122 kWh, houses 5,333 kWh), and the median home 2,926 kWh. That is well above the UK typical value, partly because electric heating is more common in France: space heating was 24.3% of the average home’s use and electric water heating 15.1%, followed by fridges and freezers at 14.0%.

Why your usage differs from the average

• Electric heating and hot water: storage heaters, panel heaters or an immersion heater can add thousands of kWh. See space heater running costs and the heat pump vs electric heater calculator.
• An electric car charged at home: see the EV charging cost calculator.
• Household size and home size: more people means more washing, showers and cooking; bigger homes need more lighting and heating.
• Old cold appliances: an ageing fridge-freezer or a second freezer in the garage. See how much electricity a freezer uses.
• Always-on devices: routers, set-top boxes, consoles and computers on standby.

How to bring your usage down

1. Find the big users with our measured appliance energy data.
2. Check any appliance with the appliance running cost calculator using its wattage and hours of use.
3. Wash at 30°C or 20°C and air-dry when you can: see washing machine and tumble dryer costs.
4. Turn off standby loads overnight with a smart plug or switched extension lead.
5. Read your smart meter or in-home display regularly to spot unusual jumps.
6. Compare your unit rate with the cap and consider a time-of-use tariff if you can shift usage to off-peak hours.