How Much Does It Cost to Run a Slow Cooker for 8 Hours in the UK?

The cost is the wattage divided by 1,000, times the hours, times your unit rate. At 26.32p per kWh, here is 8 hours on the slow cookers in our guides, using the wattage on its listing.

Hamilton Beach 1.8L (90W): 19p. Crock-Pot 1.8L (100W): 21p. Crock-Pot 2.4L (130W): 27p. Morphy Richards Sear & Stew 3.5L (153W): 32p. Morphy Richards Easy Time 6.5L (163W): 34p. Tower Cavaletto 3.5L (210W): 44p. Crock-Pot Lift & Serve 4.7L (220W): 46p. Morphy Richards Sear & Stew 6.5L oval (240W): 51p.

So even the biggest pot costs about 6.3p an hour, and the smallest about 2.4p. Compare the small ones in our best small slow cooker UK guide and the family-sized ones in best slow cookers UK.

For a small 130W slow cooker: 4 hours 14p, 6 hours 21p, 8 hours 27p, 10 hours 34p, 12 hours 41p and 24 hours 82p.

For a mid-sized 163W slow cooker: 4 hours 17p, 6 hours 26p, 8 hours 34p, 10 hours 43p, 12 hours 51p and 24 hours £1.03.

For a family 240W slow cooker: 4 hours 25p, 6 hours 38p, 8 hours 51p, 10 hours 63p, 12 hours 76p and 24 hours £1.52.

Follow your recipe and the manual for cooking times. Most dishes do not need anywhere near 24 hours.

Not always. The listed wattage is the most the cooker should draw, and a low cook usually takes longer than a high one. So low does not automatically cost less overall. It depends on how much less power your model uses on low.

Our figures use the listed wattage for the whole cook, so they are a ceiling. Once the pot is up to temperature it may draw less, so your real cost is likely to be the same or lower. An energy monitor plug will show exactly what yours uses on each setting.

Cooking for 8 hours twice a week (104 cooks a year) at today's rate costs about £28 a year with a 130W slow cooker, £36 with a 163W one and £53 with a 240W one.

Three times a week, that rises to about £43, £54 and £79. Prices exclude the daily standing charge, which you pay anyway.

Hob-safe Sear & Stew pots from Morphy Richards and Tower let you brown meat on your hob first. The slow cook part costs the same as above (the Morphy Richards 3.5L is listed at 153W), and the browning uses your hob as normal.

Multi-cookers list a higher wattage because they can also brown or sear. The Instant Superior 7.1L is listed at 800W and the Ninja PossibleCooker at 1200W. The Ninja cycles once it is up to temperature, so a slow cook uses well under its top figure, but we have not metered either. Compare them in our slow cooker with sear function guide.

Pick the right size. A small pot for one or two people uses less power than a big family pot, and it cooks properly when it is filled to the level the maker recommends.

Keep the lid on. Lifting it lets heat out, so the cook takes longer.

Batch cook and freeze. One long cook for several meals spreads the cost.

Comparing other appliances? Our appliance running cost calculator covers kettles, air fryers and coffee machines too, and our cost to boil a kettle article breaks down every boil.

The rate is the Ofgem energy price cap average Direct Debit electricity unit rate for England, Scotland and Wales, 26.32p per kWh for 1 October to 31 December 2026, checked on ofgem.gov.uk on 7 October 2026. Wattages are the figures listed on the Amazon UK listings of the slow cookers in our guides, checked the same day.

We assume full listed power for the whole cooking time and have not metered these slow cookers ourselves. Your rate is on your bill, and our calculator lets you change it.