UK household cost research

Look Into: what things cost to buy, install and run in the UK

Dated UK prices and running costs, worked out at the current Ofgem cap. Every figure shows its source and its arithmetic.

Work out a running cost ↓Heat pump vs gas boiler Cheapest heater to run Electric blanket cost per night Black Friday dates

Electricity 26.32p/kWh Ofgem cap, 1 Oct to 31 Dec 2026

Two people at a kitchen table going through household bills

Look Into research

Britain pays £308 a year before it switches anything on

The standing charge, gas and electricity combined, 1 Oct to 31 Dec 2026, mapped by region.

Someone working out costs on a calculator over a pile of bills

Free tool

What will it cost you to run?

Enter the watts from the label and how long you use it. The answer shows its working.

Cost per day

£1.58

Per hour: 52.6p
Per week: £11.05
Per month (30.4 days): £47.99

2,000W × 3h = 6.00 kWh × 26.32p = 157.9p a day

Open the full calculator for thermostats, Economy 7 and smart-plug readings

Black Friday, Friday 27 November

Is that deal really the lowest price? Check it against the last 90 days before you buy.

Check a deal Black Friday price watch Repair or replace?All cost indexes

Changing now

What's moving your costs this month

January price cap

Ofgem announces it in late November. What we know so far, and what it would do to your bill.

Updated as each forecast lands

No VAT on electricity until April

What the cut saves you this winter, and the cliff when it ends.

Worked at the Oct to Dec 2026 cap

Black Friday is 27 November

Prices we are recording now, so you can tell a real cut from a fake one.

Prices tracked since October

Original research

Numbers you will not find on the box

All research and indexes

A portable electric heater glowing orange

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Best-selling electric heaters that state a running cost

None prices an hour of use, so we did: 1.1p to 65.8p an hour.

Listings read 5 Sep 2026 · method on the page

A camping gas stove with a frying pan on grass

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Camping gas listings that state an energy content

The cheapest cartridge works out at 64p per kWh, 2.4 times mains electricity.

Listings read 26 Oct 2026 · method on the page

UK Running Cost Index

What everyday appliances cost to run at the current cap, rebuilt every time the cap changes.

Oct to Dec 2026 · free to cite

Head to head

Which is cheaper to run?

Cost per night

Meaco vs Pro Breeze dehumidifier

	Meaco Arete One 12L	Pro Breeze 12L
8-hour night	31.8p	32p to 40p
Per litre	18.2p	Not published
Warranty	5 years	1 year

Close on cost per night. Only Meaco publishes the figures to check it.

Roast potato wedges in an air fryer basket

Cost per cook

Ninja AF300UK vs AF400UK

	AF300UK	AF400UK
20-minute cook	21.1p	21.7p
A year, 260 cooks	£54.75	£56.34
Per litre of drawer	2.77p	2.28p

AF300UK costs less to run. The AF400UK only wins if it saves a second batch.

Cost per hour

Electric blanket vs heater

	70W blanket	650W oil radiator	2kW fan heater
1 hour	1.8p	17.1p	52.6p
Winter, 4h × 150 nights	£11.05	£102.65	£315.84

The fan heater costs 28.6 times the blanket per hour.

Worked at 26.32p per kWh, the Ofgem cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026. Figures from each comparison, checked 28 September 2026. All head-to-heads

Just published

Newest guides and research

Popular guides and tools

Running costs

What an appliance costs per hour, night or season at the current cap.

Install and upgrade costs

Heat pumps, solar, boilers, stairlifts and care, with grants and payback.

Buying guides, claims checked

What to buy, ranked by what it costs to own, with what we could not check.

This season

Black Friday: Friday 27 November

32 days to go

We are recording prices now, so you can see whether a sale price is a real cut.

See the price watch

Standing commitments

What updates next

Late NovOfgem announces the January cap. Every running-cost figure is rebased within 72 hours.
27 NovBlack Friday prices checked against the prices recorded in October.
1 Jan 2027New cap takes effect. Old figures stay visible, dated, in each page's change log.

How to check any of this

We show the working

Every cost names its rate, its date and its source. If you can't redo the sum, we haven't done our job. Our method

We say what we could not check

Every buying guide ends with the limits of desk research. We do not test products and never claim to.

Who publishes it

Look Into is published by Whito Ltd, a UK company. Payment never buys a ranking. How we make money

How this site works. Look Into is desk research. We read makers' specifications, official rates and published prices, and we do the arithmetic. We do not test products, and a figure is only as good as the source we name for it. Prices and rates change, so check the date on any page before you rely on it. Nothing here is financial advice.