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26 August 2022

How much does it cost to boil a kettle?

The cost of running household appliances is about to get a lot more expensive

By Saywah Mahmood

Household appliances are set to be 150 per cent more expensive to run in October 2022 than at the same time last year.

Ofgem announced today (26 August) that the energy price cap will increase to £3,549 a year for dual fuel for an average household from 1 October. The cap will be 52p per kilowatt hour for electricity, compared with 28p per kilowatt hour at present. In October 2021 it was 21p, making an increase of 148 per cent over a year. 

Depending on the amount of power they use, this will make everyday household items such as kettles and washing machines up to 93p more expensive per hour in October 2022 than October 2021.

Jonathan Brearley, the chief executive of Ofgem, said: “The price of energy has reached record levels driven by an aggressive economic act by the Russian state. They have slowly and deliberately turned off the gas supplies to Europe causing harm to our households, businesses and wider economy. Ofgem has no choice but to reflect these cost increases in the price cap.”

[See also: Can your favourite pub afford to keep the lights on this winter?]

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