Abstract This article presents a comprehensive statistical analysis of data obtained from a wide range of literature on the most widely used appliances in the UK residential load sector, as well as a comprehensive technology and market survey conducted by the authors. The article focuses on the individual appliances and begins by consideration of the electrical operations performed by the load. This approach allows for the loads to be categorised based on the electrical characteristics, which is particularly important for implementing load-use statistics in power system analysis. In addition to this, device ownership statistics and probability density functions of power demand are presented for the main residential loads. Although the data presented is primarily intended as a resource for the development of load profiles for power system analysis, it contains a large volume of information that provides a useful database for the wider research community.