What does each appliance cost to run in the UK?
Each page answers one question: what a specific appliance costs per hour, per use or per year at the Ofgem price cap unit rate of 26.32p per kWh, for 1 October to 31 December 2026. Every figure comes from one price file and the formula is shown, so you can swap in the rate from your own bill.
Prices last checked: 26 September 2026 · Source: Ofgem energy price cap, 1 October to 31 December 2026 · Great Britain average, standard variable tariff, paid by Direct Debit
The big seasonal costs
Anything that makes heat directly from electricity uses power in kilowatts, not watts. These are the appliances that move a winter bill.
Cooking and cold storage
Short, powerful bursts (kettle, oven) and small loads that never stop (fridge freezer).
Washing, drying and dehumidifying
Drying is usually the expensive part. These pages compare the options side by side.
Screens, games and cars
Modest per hour, but used for many hours. And the EV, which can outweigh everything else.
How these figures are worked out
Every running cost here uses the same two steps: kWh = watts ÷ 1,000 × hours, then cost = kWh × unit rate. The unit rate is Ofgem's price cap average for Great Britain for customers on a standard variable tariff paying by Direct Debit. Ofgem's electricity figures for this period include no VAT: the government removed VAT from domestic electricity from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027. Gas figures include 5% VAT.
We leave out the daily standing charge (54.83p a day at the cap), because you pay it whether an appliance is on or off. The UK electricity price page explains the unit rate, the standing charge and how they make up a bill.
Wattages and kWh-per-use figures in the tables are examples within the usual range for each appliance, and are labelled as such. Your own appliance label, or a plug-in energy monitor, will always be more accurate. See our methodology.