The short answer
Ofgem’s cap for October to December 2026 is £1,723 a year for a typical dual-fuel home paying by Direct Debit. £308.46 of that is standing charge, 17.9% of the bill, paid before a kettle boils. The other £1,415.15 buys 2,500 kWh of electricity and 9,500 kWh of gas. At typical use, the real price of a typical kWh of electricity is 34.33p, not 26.32p. At half the typical use it is 42.33p.
Checked 15 September 2026 · desk research by Jacob Whitmore. Rates apply 1 October to 31 December 2026 and cover Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales). Northern Ireland is not covered by the Ofgem cap. We have not metered any appliance; every figure is arithmetic on published rates and stated wattages.
Who this is for: anyone working out what an hour of heating or a load of washing costs this winter, and anyone on low use wondering why cutting back barely moves the bill. Who it is not for: prepayment and Economy 7 customers, whose cap rates differ. Check Ofgem’s tables for your payment method.
The finding in one table
| What | Oct to Dec 2026 cap | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity unit rate | 26.32p/kWh | Ofgem, read 15 Sep 2026 |
| Electricity standing charge | 54.83p/day = £200.13/yr | Ofgem; our ×365 |
| Gas unit rate | 7.97p/kWh | Ofgem |
| Gas standing charge | 29.68p/day = £108.33/yr | Ofgem; our ×365 |
| Standing charges together | 84.51p/day = £308.46/yr | Our sum |
| Typical use (from 1 July 2026) | 2,500 kWh electricity, 9,500 kWh gas | Ofgem typical consumption decision, May 2026 |
| Our build-up of the typical bill | £1,723.61 (Ofgem: £1,723) | Our sum |
| Standing charge share of the bill | 17.9% | Our sum |
Method in six lines
- Rates: Ofgem’s GB average Direct Debit cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026, read 15 September 2026.
- Typical use: Ofgem’s typical domestic consumption values, 2,500 kWh electricity and 9,500 kWh gas, in force since 1 July 2026.
- Standing charges: the daily rate multiplied by 365.
- Appliance jobs: wattage × time × 26.32p, using the wattages and times on our UK running cost index and air fryer guide.
- Real price per kWh: (unit cost + standing charge) ÷ kWh used, for each fuel.
- The half-use and double-use homes are our own illustrations, not Ofgem categories.
Step 1: the part you pay for nothing
The standing charge is fixed per day. It does not care whether you are home.
- Electricity: £200.13 a year. At 26.32p a unit that money would buy 760 kWh, which is 30.4% of a typical home’s electricity for the year.
- Gas: £108.33 a year. That is the price of 1,359 kWh of gas, 14.3% of typical use.
- Together: £308.46, or 17.9% of the £1,723 bill.
Standing charges fell £6.28 a year from the July cap, from 86.23p to 84.51p a day, because the electricity charge fell more than the gas charge rose. The full quarter-on-quarter change is on our October 2026 price cap page.
Step 2: the real price of a typical kWh
Spread the standing charge over what you actually use and the price of each unit goes up. The less you use, the more it goes up.
| Home (our illustration) | Electricity use | Gas use | Yearly bill | Standing share | Real price, electricity | Real price, gas |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Half typical use | 1,250 kWh | 4,750 kWh | £1,016.04 | 30.4% | 42.33p | 10.25p |
| Typical (Ofgem) | 2,500 kWh | 9,500 kWh | £1,723.61 | 17.9% | 34.33p | 9.11p |
| Double typical use | 5,000 kWh | 19,000 kWh | £3,138.76 | 9.8% | 30.32p | 8.54p |
The catch. This is why cutting back feels like it barely works. A home that halves its use does not halve its bill: it pays £1,016.04, which is 59% of the typical £1,723.61. The standing charge is the part you cannot save on.
But the next hour still costs the unit rate. The standing charge is already spent, so one more hour of a 2kW heater costs 52.64p, not 68.66p. Use 26.32p to decide whether to switch something on. Use the real price to understand your bill.
Step 3: what the money buys
The electricity part of the typical bill is £658 for 2,500 kWh. Here is what that money, and the electricity standing charge alone, would buy if it all went on one job.
| Job | Assumption (source) | Cost per go at 26.32p | £10 buys | £658 buys | The standing charge alone (£200.13) would have bought |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2kW heater, 1 hour | 2,000W (running cost index, oil-filled radiator row) | 52.6p | 19.0 hours | 1,250 hours | 380 hours |
| Tumble dryer cycle | 2,500W for 90 minutes (running cost index) | 98.7p | 10.1 cycles | 667 cycles | 203 cycles |
| Washing machine cycle | 2,100W for 1 hour (running cost index) | 55.3p | 18.1 washes | 1,190 washes | 362 washes |
| Electric shower | 9,000W for 10 minutes (running cost index) | 39.5p | 25.3 showers | 1,667 showers | 507 showers |
| Electric oven, 1 hour | 2,100W (running cost index) | 55.3p | 18.1 hours | 1,190 hours | 362 hours |
| Air fryer, 20 minutes, smallest pick | Tower Vortx 4.2L, 1,400W (air fryer guide, checked 10 Sep 2026) | 12.3p | 81.4 cooks | 5,357 cooks | 1,629 cooks |
| Air fryer, 20 minutes, largest pick | Philips 3000 Series Dual Basket 9L, 2,750W (same guide) | 24.1p | 41.4 cooks | 2,727 cooks | 829 cooks |
| Kettle boil | 3,000W for 3 minutes (running cost index) | 3.9p | 253 boils | 16,667 boils | 5,069 boils |
| Microwave, 10 minutes | 1,000W (running cost index) | 4.4p | 228 goes | 15,000 goes | 4,562 goes |
These are rated-power figures. Most appliances do not draw full power for the whole run: a washing machine heats water for part of the cycle, and an air fryer’s element cycles once it reaches temperature. Read each row as a ceiling, not a meter reading.
Gas, for scale. £1 buys 12.55 kWh of gas. A boiler working at 90% efficiency turns that into heat at 8.86p per useful kWh, so the gas standing charge alone, £108.33, is worth about 1,223 kWh of useful heat. The full comparison, heat pumps included, is on the heating cost index.
What would change these numbers
- The January 2027 cap. Ofgem announces it in late November. Every row on this page will be rebased on the new rates.
- 1 April 2027. Our October cap page explains why the electricity rate is expected to rise when VAT returns.
- Your region. Standing charges vary by region. This page uses the GB average; see our standing charge postcode report for the regional picture.
- Your tariff. Fixed deals, Economy 7 and prepayment are priced differently.
- Until 30 September 2026 the July cap still applies: 26.11p and 7.33p per kWh, with standing charges of 57.19p and 29.04p a day.
FAQ
How much of the £1,723 price cap is standing charge?
£308.46 a year, or 17.9%, from 1 October 2026. Electricity is 54.83p a day and gas is 29.68p a day, on Ofgem’s GB average Direct Debit rates.
What does a kWh of electricity really cost once the standing charge is included?
The real price of a typical kWh is 34.33p, at Ofgem’s typical use of 2,500 kWh a year, against a 26.32p unit rate. At half that use it is 42.33p.
Does using less energy lower the standing charge?
No. It is charged per day, so a low-use home pays the same £308.46 a year as a high-use one on the same rates.
How much does it cost to run a 2kW heater for an hour from October 2026?
52.6p at the 26.32p cap rate, if it runs at full power for the whole hour. A thermostat that cycles the heater off will cut that.
Is £1,723 what I will pay?
No. It is the cap for a typical home, not a maximum bill. You pay per unit and per day, so higher use means a higher bill.
Does the price cap apply in Northern Ireland?
No. The Ofgem price cap covers England, Scotland and Wales.
This page is not financial advice. Prices are guides; check your own tariff before you decide anything.
Sources
- Ofgem: Energy price cap unit rates and standing charges, read 15 September 2026
- Ofgem: Review of typical domestic consumption values, decision (May 2026), read 28 August 2026
- Look Into: UK running cost index (appliance wattages and times), read 15 September 2026
- Look Into: Best air fryers UK (rated power of each pick), read 15 September 2026