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The new energy price cap announced today will push bills up by 80% from 1 October for those on variable energy tariffs. Energy regulator Ofgem estimates that this will put unit rates for electricity around 52p per kWh, up from 28p at present. Find out what that means for your electrical appliances and your finances.
From October, if you're on a variable tariff, your supplier can charge you up to the energy price cap (but not more). You'll need to wait for your energy provider to get in touch with you to find out the exact amount you'll be paying for each unit of energy.
If you're lucky enough to be on a fixed tariff at the moment, your energy costs will stay the same until your contract ends.
Calculate how much your payments could be: what the price cap increase means for your bills
At Which?, we record how much the appliances we test in our labs cost to run, and how much it'll cost to use them over the year, assuming you are paying the price-capped rate for electricity.
We work this out according to an average use scenario, so you'll need to scale this up or down if you run your washing machine, for example, particularly often or infrequently.
We've rerun our figures with the new data today – 52p per kWh, to give you an updated sense of how much the new energy prices will add to your appliance running costs.
Read on for our new running cost update and tips for keeping your appliance costs down.
Ease the squeeze on your household bills with our cost of living advice and tips
Under the new energy price cap, average annual washing machine running costs will increase from just over to £63 to more than £117.
To get to these figures, we've used an average of the running costs of all the washing machines we currently have reviews for on our site.
We estimate that, in a year, the average household uses their washing machine 208 times – that's four times a week.
Your own costs will be higher or lower than that depending on your usage and the capacity of your machine.
Smaller capacity machines cost less to run than larger ones, but clearly a larger one is more practical if you have a large household and lots of laundry to wash.
The cheapest-to-run washing machine that we've tested will now cost £47 a year, up from £26. The most expensive is going up from £95 to an enormous £176.
Our calculations show that average heat pump tumble dryer running costs are going to increase from £56 to £104.
If you own a condenser tumble dryer – the most energy-hungry type – they'll be much higher. Average running costs are already £140 – between two and three times higher than for a heat pump model – and will now be going up to £260.
The most expensive heat pump tumble dryer we've tested will now cost £156; the most expensive, a staggering £359.
That's based on the premise that you run the cotton cupboard-dry program on a tumble dryer three times every week.
What's the difference between a tumble dryer and a washer dryer? Here's how washer-dryers compare to standalone washing machine and tumble-dryers
Read more about other ways to maintain your tumble dryer and get the most out of it.
If you're buying a new tumble dryer, make sure it's a heat pump model with low running costs. Check out our tumble dryer reviews .
The average running cost for a full-size dishwasher is going up from £83 to £153. For a slimline model, you'll be paying on average £136, up from £73.
That's based on running the main dishwasher program five times a week across the year.
The most expensive to run dishwasher currently live on our site currently costs you £104 per year, and will now cost £194.
Even the cheapest to run dishwasher will rise from £46 to £85.
Fridge freezer energy efficiency has improved enormously over the past 10 years.
Still, they're not cheap to run. The average integrated fridge freezer currently costs £73 to run. Freestanding and American models costs more: £84 and £120 respectively.
The average figures from October will be £136 for an integrated model, £155 for freestanding and £222 for American.
And the most expensive fridge freezer we've tested will go up to £332 in running costs.
That's based on the assumption your fridge freezer is on 24/7 – which it should be.
Don't be tempted to turn off your fridge freezer to save on energy costs.
Your machine will use up more energy trying to cool back down when you switch it back on, and you could give yourself food poisoning if your food has warmed up to unsafe levels in the meantime.
Here's how to interpret fridge freezer energy ratings and how Which? tests for energy efficiency
Ways to make sure your fridge freezer running costs are as low as possible include:
Many fridges will beep if they've been left open for too long – if yours doesn't, you can buy devices that sit inside your fridge and make a noise to remind you to shut the door.
Built-in ovens don't cost as much to run as some of the other appliances we've looked at here, but it still pays to get an energy efficient one.
A built-in oven costs on average each year:
From October, those figures will rise to:
Ovens aren't designed to heat homes, so don't be tempted to use yours as a heater: it's both inefficient and unsafe.
Find more tips for saving energy in the kitchen and where to get help if you're struggling to pay your energy bills .