Running cost head-to-heads: A vs B, Oct 2026

Every comparison page on Look Into answers the same two questions for a pair of appliances. Which one costs less to run at the Ofgem price cap of 26.32p per kWh, which applies from 1 October to 31 December 2026? And if the cheaper one to run costs more to buy, how much use does it take to earn the difference back?

We call that second number the pence-back point. It is the price gap divided by the saving per use, counted in litres of water removed, cooks or nights. A machine that saves 2p a litre and costs £20 more has a pence-back point of 1,000 litres. If you will never use it that much, buy the cheaper one.

The verdict, 28 September 2026

Eleven comparisons so far, all priced at 26.32p per kWh from each maker's own figures, with prices read on Amazon UK or the maker's site on 28 September 2026.
The pence-back point is often longer than the product's life. The Ninja AF300UK needs 2,356 cooks, about nine years, to earn back its price over the Tefal Easy Fry Dual Zone.
Some upgrades never pay back on electricity. The Meaco Arete Two saves 2.3p a litre at 12 litres but only 0.7p at 20 litres.
Some comparisons have no running-cost winner at all. A 2kW oil-filled radiator and a 2kW fan heater both cost 52.6p an hour.

All head-to-heads, 28 September 2026. Rates: Ofgem cap, 1 October to 31 December 2026, 26.32p per kWh.
Comparison	Cheaper overall	Pence-back point
Meaco Arete One vs Arete Two 12L	Arete Two: 15.9p a litre against 18.2p (20°C, 60%)	859 litres
Meaco Arete One vs Arete Two 20L	Arete One: the Two saves only 0.7p a litre	About 6,000 litres
Meaco Arete One 12L vs MeacoDry ABC 10L	ABC in a warm room, Arete One in a cold one	370 to 1,596 litres
Meaco vs Pro Breeze 12L	Only the Meaco's cost can be checked: 31.8p a night	470 nights, or never
Ninja AF300UK vs Philips 3000 Dual Basket	Close: 21.1p against 24.1p a cook, choose on drawers	923 cooks
Ninja AF300UK vs Tefal Easy Fry Dual Zone	Tefal: £62 cheaper, 2.6p a cook dearer	2,356 cooks
Ninja AF300UK vs AF400UK	AF300UK, unless you cook for a family	348 family meals, or never
Tower Vortx 4.2L vs Ninja AF140UK	Tower, cheaper to buy and to run	Never: the Ninja costs more on both
Lakeland Dry:Soon vs Duronic CA30	A tie on running cost; Dry:Soon for the 3-year guarantee, Duronic £20 cheaper	Never: both draw 300W, so neither earns the other back
Candy GDL 8N1-80 vs Hisense DH3S802BW3	Hisense, 17.6p less a full load	About 624 full loads (2.4 years at five a week)
Silentnight Dual Control vs Carmen Double	Carmen, 1.8p an hour against 3.2p with both Silentnight sides on	Not a running-cost choice: under £1 a winter on a half-hour pre-heat
Levoit Core Mini vs Philips 600 Series	Levoit on electricity; filters decide the total	Philips is cheaper over 3 years only if the Levoit filter lasts 4 months, not 6
Oil filled radiator vs fan heater	Same: 52.6p an hour each at 2kW	None
Electric blanket vs heater	Blanket: 1.8p an hour against 17.1p and up	None needed
Electric blanket vs hot water bottle	Blanket for a pre-warm, bottle for all night	About 290 nights
Tumble dryer vs dehumidifier vs heated airer vs radiator	Heat pump dryer: 15p a 3kg load	See the page
Microwave vs air fryer vs oven vs slow cooker	Microwave: 4p a jacket potato	About 220 potatoes, air fryer against oven

Prices and specs last checked by Look Into on 28 September 2026 · next check 1 January 2027 · how we picked

How the pence-back point works

Running costs on a listing are usually per hour. That flatters the machine that draws the least power, even when it does less work. So we price each machine per unit of work: per litre of water a dehumidifier removes, per 20-minute cook in an air fryer, per night or per hour for a heater or blanket. Watts come from the maker's own table where one exists, and from the rated power on the listing where it does not.

Then we divide the price gap by the saving per unit. The result is the pence-back point. It changes whenever the cap or the price changes, which is why every page carries the date the prices were read and is rebuilt at each new cap.

The pence-back point, worked through for the Meaco Arete One and Arete Two 12L at 20°C and 60% humidity.
Step	Value
Arete One 12L: 151W, 5.23 litres a day	18.2p a litre
Arete Two 12L: 136W, 5.40 litres a day	15.9p a litre
Saving per litre	2.33p
Price gap, 28 September 2026	£20.00
Pence-back point	£20.00 ÷ 2.33p = 859 litres

Rules every head-to-head follows

Watts and output come from the maker's own page where it publishes them, not the Amazon listing. Where a maker publishes no wattage, as with the Pro Breeze 12L, the page says so and prices the maker's own claims.
Every cost is a ceiling at full rated power unless the maker publishes a measured figure. Thermostats and humidistats bring real costs down.
Every page has a box saying what it could not check. We have not run any of these machines on a meter.
Commerce sits below the method. A link to Amazon earns Look Into a commission and never changes a number.
All pages are rebuilt at the next cap change, on 1 January 2027.

Every other comparison on Look Into

The table above covers appliances priced at the energy cap. These comparisons weigh up other choices: systems, materials, buying against renting, and named models. Each one shows its own method and date.

Heating, energy and the home

Products and buy-or-lease

Mobility

More ways to price your appliances

For a single appliance with your own hours and your own tariff, use the appliance running cost calculator. For the hourly cost of common household appliances side by side, see the UK running cost index. For whole heating systems, see heat pump vs gas boiler running costs.

This page recommends no product and carries no affiliate links.