The short answer
About 45–55p for a cappuccino and 30–40p for an espresso or americano at home: 32–36p of beans, 10–15p of milk, under 1p of electricity and a few pence of filters and cleaning. Electricity at 26.32p/kWh is about 0.8p a cup (0.03 kWh), roughly £6 a year for two cups a day. The machine's 1,250–1,850 W rating is a peak draw for seconds, not an hourly cost.
electricity per cup (0.03 kWh)
electricity per year, 2 cups a day
beans per double shot at £20/kg
a home cappuccino, all in
Electricity: the number everyone asks about and nobody should worry about
A bean-to-cup machine heats water to around 93 °C for each cup, grinds for a few seconds and runs a pump. The heater is rated at 1,250–1,850 W but runs for well under a minute per drink. Add standby and the occasional rinse cycle and you land at 0.02–0.04 kWh per cup; we use 0.03 kWh. At 26.32p/kWh that is 0.79p a cup, 1.6p a day for two cups, £5.76 a year.
A kettle for instant coffee uses about 0.035 kWh to boil 300 ml, so the bean-to-cup is not meaningfully different on electricity. Where it differs is beans and milk.
Beans: the real running cost
Supermarket beans run £12–£18 a kilo, speciality roasters £25–£35. A single shot uses 8–10 g and a double 16–18 g. At £20 a kilo a double shot is 32–36p; at £14 it is 22–25p. Two double-shot drinks a day is roughly £160–£260 a year in beans — twenty to forty times the electricity.
Pre-ground coffee through the bypass chute costs about the same per gram but goes stale fast; buy beans in 250 g or 500 g bags unless you drink a lot.
Milk, filters and descaling
A cappuccino takes about 100–150 ml of milk, 10–15p at supermarket prices, more for oat. A water filter (AquaClean for Philips, De'Longhi's cartridge) costs £8–£15 and lasts two to three months; descaler £5–£10 a bottle used every one to three months depending on water hardness and whether you filter. Milk-system cleaner and brew-unit grease are a few pounds a year. Budget £30–£60 a year for consumables.
Bean-to-cup vs pods vs coffee shop
| Per cappuccino | Coffee | Milk | Electricity | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bean-to-cup at home (£20/kg beans) | 34p | 12p | 0.8p | ≈ 47p |
| Pod machine at home | 40–60p | 12p | 0.5p | ≈ 55–75p |
| High-street coffee shop | £3.50–£4.20 | |||
At two cups a day, a bean-to-cup saves roughly £60–£200 a year against pods and over £2,000 against the coffee shop. That is why a £300–£600 machine is usually a sound purchase if you already drink espresso-based coffee daily.
Rated power and electricity cost of the machines we recommend
| Product | per hour at full power | per cup | per year (2×/day) |
|---|---|---|---|
| De'Longhi Magnifica Start ECAM222.20.B (4 one-touch recipes, 1,450 W) | 38.2p | 0.8p | £5.76 |
| De'Longhi Magnifica S ECAM22.110.B (1,250 W) | 32.9p | 0.8p | £5.76 |
| Philips 3300 Series LatteGo (6 hot/iced drinks, 1,500 W) | 39.5p | 0.8p | £5.76 |
| Philips 5400 Series LatteGo (12 drinks, touch display, 1,500 W) | 39.5p | 0.8p | £5.76 |
| Philips 2200 Series (2 drinks, classic frother, 1,500 W) | 39.5p | 0.8p | £5.76 |
| De'Longhi Magnifica Evo ECAM292.33.SB (LatteCrema, 1,450 W) | 38.2p | 0.8p | £5.76 |
| Siemens EQ500 TQ513GB1 (integrated milk container, 1,500 W) | 39.5p | 0.8p | £5.76 |
| De'Longhi Rivelia (16 one-touch drinks, 3.5-inch touch display, 1,450 W) | 38.2p | 0.8p | £5.76 |
| Sage Barista Express (semi-automatic, built-in grinder, 1,850 W) | 48.7p | 0.8p | £5.76 |
| Bosch Series 4 VeroCafe TPG40307 (9 drinks, Cappuccinatore) | 0.8p | £5.76 | |
| Ninja Luxe Premier ES601UK (3-in-1 espresso, filter and cold brew) | 0.8p | £5.76 |
See the coffee machine picks →
Frequently asked questions
Should I switch the machine off at the wall?
Not necessary. Standby draw is under a watt on current De'Longhi and Philips machines — pennies a year. Just set the auto-off to 15–30 minutes so the boiler is not kept hot all day.
Does a bigger machine use more electricity per cup?
Marginally: a machine with a hot milk system and a larger boiler may use 0.04 kWh per milky drink rather than 0.03. That is a difference of 0.3p a cup.
How much does descaling cost if I skip the water filter?
In hard-water areas you may descale monthly without a filter: 12 bottles a year at £5–£10 is £60–£120, plus the time. A filter at £8–£15 every two to three months is cheaper and protects the boiler. In soft-water areas descale every three to six months.
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