How much does it really cost to use our household appliances?

Our household bills are going through the roof - but how much does it really cost to boil the kettle or load the washing machine?

As our energy bills soar and the cost of living crisis is being felt more keenly every day in homes across Greater Manchester, what can we really do help ourselves?

Energy bills rose sharply for everyone on October 1. The average household will now pay about £2,500 per year for gas and electricity, a rise of more than £500. Here we look at the cost of using regular household items, thanks to research conducted by the energy efficiency website Sust-it.net.

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The cost of boiling a 2,200 watt kettle, assuming it is filled to capacity is now 6.37p per boil, up a little over a penny compared to prices before October 1. Assuming three boils per day, this means £12.30 will be added to our electricity bills each year, according to Sust-it.

The cost of the electricity required to power a 126 litre fridge for a year now stands at at £49.64, up close to £9 compared to the previous tariff.

If you're going to do a wash on a modern, high efficiency eight kilo capacity washing machine, it will now cost you almost 21p per cycle, up almost 3p, or an extra £5.70 per year.

If you have an older, less efficient washing machine, then each cycle will set you back a little over 30p, or £9 extra on your bill.

Running an 800 watt microwave for five minutes will now cost 2.78p, up 0.17p compared to pre-October electricity prices. That adds an extra £2 to your annual bill.

According to analysis of the figures by the BBC, this means it will cost 5p to bake a potato for ten minutes in the same microwave, compared