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Energy regulator Ofgem estimates the new government energy guarantee will put domestic unit rates for electricity around 34p per kWh. Find out what that means for your electrical appliances and your finances. 

On 9 September, the government announced a new two-year energy price guarantee (EPG) of £2,500 for a 'typical household' paying by direct debit, replacing the £3,549 price cap that had been due to come into effect from 1 October. 

However, the cap is on the price of a single unit of energy, not your total bill. What you actually pay personally will depend on how much you use. Understanding the unit rates is a clearer way of understanding what the EPG means for your bills.

The new unit rate for people in England, Scotland and Wales paying by direct debit will be an average 34p/kWh of electricity, with a standing rate of 46p per day. It is higher than the existing rate of 28p, but much lower than the previously announced figure of 52p. 

Gas for for people in England, Scotland and Wales paying by direct debit will be on average 10.3p – higher than than the current 7p but less than the previously announced 15p from October. 

These are averages - so you'll need to wait for your energy provider to get in touch with you to find out the exact amount you'll be paying for each unit of energy under the EPG. 

If you're on a fixed tariff at the moment, the government has said that the energy price guarantee will protect you in the same way that it protects standard variable tariff (SVT) customers. We understand this to mean that you will also benefit from the new price guarantee reduction of your fixed unit rates if they are higher than those listed above.

Calculate how much your payments could be: what the £2,500 typical energy price guarantee actually means for your bills

As electricity prices are still going up, your household appliances will still be more expensive to run come October. At Which?, we record how much the appliances we test in our labs cost to run, and how much it will cost to use them over the year, assuming you are paying the average rate for electricity. 

We work this out according to an average use scenario, so you'll need to scale this up or down if you run your appliances particularly often or infrequently. Our analysis below explains what we consider to be average use for each product.

We've rerun our figures with the new data from the government and Ofgem – 34p per kWh – to give you an updated sense of how much the new energy prices will add to your appliance running costs compared to the current price of 28p. 

Read on for our new running cost update and tips for keeping your appliance costs down.

Ease the squeeze on your household bills with our cost of living advice and tips

Under the new EPG, average annual washing machine running costs will increase from just over to £63 to nearly £77.

To get to these figures, we've used an average of the running costs of all the washing machines we currently have reviews for on our site. 

We estimate that, in a year, the average household uses their washing machine 208 times – that's four times a week. 

Your own costs will be higher or lower than that depending on your usage and the capacity of your machine. 

Smaller capacity machines cost less to run than larger ones, but clearly a larger one is more practical if you have a large household and lots of laundry to wash. 

The cheapest-to-run washing machine that we've tested will now cost £31 a year, up from £26. The most expensive is going up from £95 to £115.

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The average running cost for a full-size dishwasher is going up from £83 to £99. For a slimline model, you'll be paying on average £89, up from £73. 

That's based on running the main dishwasher program five times a week across the year. 

The most expensive to run dishwasher currently live on our site costs you £104 per year, and will now cost £127.

Even the cheapest to run dishwasher will rise from £46 to £56.

Our calculations show that average heat pump tumble dryer running costs are going to increase from £56 to £68.

If you own a condenser tumble dryer – the most energy-hungry type – they'll be much higher. Average running costs are already £140 – between two and three times higher than for a heat pump model – and will now be going up to £170.

The most expensive heat pump tumble dryer we've tested will now cost £102; the most expensive condenser model a staggering £234.

That's based on the premise that you run the cotton cupboard-dry program on a tumble dryer three times every week. 

What's the difference between a tumble dryer and a washer dryer? Here's how washer-dryers compare to standalone washing machine and tumble-dryers  

Read more about other ways to maintain your tumble dryer and get the most out of it. 

If you're buying a new tumble dryer, make sure it's a heat pump model with low running costs. Check out our tumble dryer reviews . 

Fridge freezer energy efficiency has improved enormously over the past 10 years. 

Still, they're not cheap to run. The average integrated fridge freezer currently costs £73 to run. Freestanding and American models costs more: £84 and £120 respectively. 

The average figures from October will be £91 for an integrated model, £102 for freestanding and £146 for American. 

And the most expensive fridge freezer we've tested will go up to £217 in running costs. 

That's based on the assumption your fridge freezer is on 24/7 – which it should be.

Don't be tempted to turn off your fridge freezer to save on energy costs. 

Your machine will use up more energy trying to cool back down when you switch it back on, and you could give yourself food poisoning if your food has warmed up to unsafe levels in the meantime. 

Here's how to interpret fridge freezer energy ratings and how Which? tests for energy efficiency

Ways to make sure your fridge freezer running costs are as low as possible include:

Many fridges will beep if they've been left open for too long – if yours doesn't, you can buy devices that sit inside your fridge and make a noise to remind you to shut the door. 

Built-in ovens don't cost as much to run as some of the other appliances we've looked at here, but it still pays to get an energy efficient one. 

A built-in oven costs on average each year:

From October, those figures will rise to:

Ovens aren't designed to heat homes, so don't be tempted to use yours as a heater: it's both inefficient and unsafe.

Find more tips for saving energy in the kitchen and where to get help if you're struggling to pay your energy bills .