Energy-hungry refrigerators could cost households £130 extra to run a year under increased price cap

Energy-inefficient fridge-freezers will add over £130 a year to households’ bills, according to new research.

Consumer watchdog Which? found the average cost of running fridge-freezers is set to increase by £77 on average following the higher energy price cap rate which came into effect on April 1.

The Hotpoint FFU3D or FFU3D X 1 fridge-freezers will cost £178.66 extra to run annually at the new price cap rate of 28p per kilowatt-hour.

That compares with a more moderate increase of £40.63 for the most energy efficient fridge-freezer identified by the study – the LG GBB92MCBAP – leaving owners more than £130 better off relative to operators of the least efficient model.