Look Into: what things cost to buy, install and run in the UK
Make smarter buying decisions. Look Into is independent UK research into the products you buy, what they cost to run, and whether the claims behind them stack up. Every figure is dated, sourced and shows its working.
Electricity 26.32p/kWh Ofgem cap, 1 Oct to 31 Dec 2026 January cap watch
Half the products we track already cost more than their lowest price
products we have priced since September are dearer now than the cheapest we have seen them, typically by 19%.
Trending now
The products UK search interest moved on most this week, measured in Google Trends against the week to 29 October. Each one links to the guide that prices it.
1+58.0%LED face masksSearch interest up 58.0% on the week before.Read the guide
2+29.5%Window vacuumsSearch interest up 29.5% on the week before.Read the guide
3+8.6%Portable monitorsSearch interest up 8.6% on the week before.Read the guide
4+8.5%Moisture absorbersSearch interest up 8.5% on the week before.Read the guideBiggest fall: Electric blankets and heated throws, down 36.7%. Electric blankets and heated throws guide · How the Demand Index works
Just published
New guides, comparisons and investigations, newest first, with the date each one went live.
Price WatchBlack Friday statistics UK 2026: spending, real discounts and how people shopSourced, dated UK Black Friday statistics: online spend, how many deals are real, AI use, retailer sale dates and the CMA rules.
Buying DeskBest iron supplements UK 2026: six packs, from 1.4p a daySix iron tablets ranked by cost per day and per 100mg of iron, prices read 6 November 2026,...
Product ComparisonsTower Vortx 4.2L vs Ninja AF140UK: which air fryer costs less?The Tower Vortx 4.2L costs at most 12.3p a 20-minute cook and the Ninja AF140UK 15.4p on Ninja's...
Product ComparisonsCompressor vs Desiccant Dehumidifier: Which Is Cheaper to Run?A compressor removes a litre of water for 18.2p in a heated room on Meaco's figures; a desiccant...- Buying DeskBest Dehumidifier for a Bedroom UK: Quietest and Cheapest OvernightSeven dehumidifiers sorted by the maker's noise figure and what an eight-hour night costs at 26.32p per kWh....
Ranked by what they cost to own, not by commission
Each guide names a pick, shows the sum behind it and ends with what desk research could not check.
Best dehumidifiers UK
Seven machines ranked by what one night costs, and what each litre of water costs to remove.
Best electric blankets and heated throws
Which ones go on the bed, which go on you, and what an evening under each costs.
Best screenwash UK
Priced by the litre and by each degree of frost protection, so concentrates and ready-mixed compare fairly.
Best electric heaters UK
Ranked on one number first: what an hour costs at the cap. No best-seller states it, so we worked it out.
Best smoke alarms UK
Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland each set different rules. The pick depends on where you live.
Best travel mugs UK
Sixteen of twenty listings print an hours-hot figure. None says what standard it was measured to.
Which is cheaper to run?
Worked at 26.32p per kWh, the Ofgem cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026.
Meaco vs Pro Breeze dehumidifier
Close on the night. Only Meaco publishes the figures to check it: 18.2p per litre removed.
Ninja AF300UK vs AF400UK
The AF300UK costs less to run. The AF400UK only wins if it saves you a second batch.
Electric blanket vs fan heater
Over a winter of 4-hour nights: £11.05 against £315.84.
What to sort out this season
The guides that matter for the weeks ahead, grouped by season, each costed at the current Ofgem cap where it runs on electricity.
What will it cost you to run?
Enter the watts from the label and how long you use it. The answer shows its working.
On the label or the maker's page, in W
Ofgem cap, 1 Oct to 31 Dec 2026
- Per hour
- 52.6p
- Per week
- £11.05
- Per month (30.4 days)
- £48.01
- Per year
- £576.41
2,000W × 3h = 6.00 kWh × 26.32p = 157.9p a day
Calculated by Look Into
Numbers you will not find on the box
Listing audits and indexes. These pages carry no affiliate links.
Black Friday Price Claims Audit 2026
We have priced the same fixed basket of 74 Amazon UK products four times since 6 September. Across the whole basket the median change is 0.0 per cent: most prices have not moved. The 36 that sit above their lowest need a discount of about 19 per cent on the day just to match a price already seen this autumn.
- 0/35
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.
0/20Camping gas listings that state an energy content
The cheapest cartridge works out at 64p per kWh, 2.4 times mains electricity. Read 26 Oct 2026.
- 0/20
Travel mug listings that name a heat standard
Sixteen print an hours-hot figure; none says how it was measured. Read 5 Nov 2026.
20Plug-in solar panel listings read against the rules
What they save and what the listings say. Checked 4 Nov 2026.
Six desks, one method
Every page belongs to a desk. The coloured label tells you what kind of page it is before you open it. All six work from published figures and listings, and say what they could not check.
Calculators that show their sums
Appliance running cost
Thermostats, Economy 7 and smart-plug readings.
Repair or replace
Whether a repair beats a new, more efficient machine.
Black Friday deal checker
Check a sale price against the last 90 days.
Home adaptation costs
Ramps, rails, wet rooms and more, before grants.
Stairlift grant checker
Whether a Disabled Facilities Grant could cover it.
Care cost calculators
Home care, live-in and care home costs by region.
Browse by subject
Know what it should cost before anyone quotes you
- Start from our dated price index, so you can hold a quote to a real number
- If you want quotes, one short form reaches up to three installers
- You pay nothing. The installers may pay Look Into an introduction fee
- Only read the guide? Nobody will contact you
How introductions work: how we make money.
Check any figure on this site yourself
We show the working
Every cost names its rate, its date and its source. If you cannot redo the sum, we have not 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 claim tests we have not done.
Payment never buys a ranking
We earn from affiliate links, quote introductions and labelled adverts. None of them can enter a pick or an index. How we make money
We correct in public
Figures are rebased when the cap changes. Old figures stay visible, dated, in each page's change log. Editorial policy
- Late NovOfgem announces the January cap. Every running-cost figure is rebased within 72 hours.
- 27 NovBlack Friday prices checked against the prices recorded since September.
- 1 Jan 2027The new cap takes effect. Old figures stay visible, dated, in each page's change log.
Independent, UK-owned, and paid for in the open
Look Into is published by Whito Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (number 10918465). There are no outside investors, and no brand pays to appear in a pick or to rank higher. We work from published specifications, official rates and named sources, show the arithmetic, and say what we could not check.