We count what a product costs after you take it home.

Why we started

Buyers Ledger began in 2023 as a shared spreadsheet between a few friends who were tired of cheap appliances that turned out to be expensive. A £60 heater that cost £1.20 an hour to run. A coffee machine that needed £40 of parts every year. A suitcase with a "lifetime" warranty that excluded almost everything that goes wrong with suitcases.

The spreadsheet became a website. The idea has not changed: put the whole cost on the page, in plain numbers, and let readers decide.

What you will find in every guide

• A short answer at the top, so you can stop reading if that is all you need.
• A cost-to-own account for every product, showing the price today, the running costs and the total over a set number of years.
• Warranty terms in plain English, including what they leave out.
• The products we looked at and left out, and why.
• Dated prices and named sources, so you can check our work.

Who we write for

We write for shoppers in the United Kingdom and the United States. The two markets sell different models at different prices, so we write separate guides rather than converting one into the other. UK guides use pounds, British spelling and the Ofgem price cap. US guides use dollars and the national average electricity rate.

What we do not do

We do not sell products, take payment for a place in a list or let brands see a guide before it goes live. Read how we are paid for the full picture.

Talk to us

Questions, corrections and suggestions for new guides go to [email protected]. A real person reads every message.