Your electricity bill doesn't tell you which appliances cost what. It presents a total and asks for a direct debit. This makes it easy to underestimate how much specific appliances contribute to that number - and how much it varies depending on where you live.
A household in South Australia runs the same fridge as a household in Tasmania and pays around a third more to do it. Over the decade-plus an appliance like that runs, a third compounds into real money - and it changes the maths on whether the efficient model is worth buying. Here's the breakdown by state, and which appliances are doing the most damage to your bill.
Why tariffs vary so much across states
Australian electricity prices are set at the state level and determined by a mix of factors: the generation mix (coal, gas, renewables), infrastructure costs, and regulated network charges that vary enormously by geography.
South Australia sits at the top of the range and Tasmania at the bottom. The reasons are structural: network costs are high in SA relative to the number of customers sharing the infrastructure, while Tasmania's predominantly hydro generation keeps its wholesale costs lower. Everywhere else clusters in between.
The flat rate is the right figure for estimating always-on or regularly used appliances. Time-of-use tariffs, solar export arrangements and controlled-load meters all change the picture, and if you're on one of those, work from your own plan instead.
Flat-rate tariffs by state
These are the ranges our energy cost calculator works from, drawn from the AER's Default Market Offer and state regulator published rates, last reviewed April 2026. Ordered by midpoint, cheapest first:
- Tasmania: 22-28c/kWh
- ACT: 22-28c/kWh
- Queensland: 24-30c/kWh
- Northern Territory: 24-30c/kWh
- Victoria: 24-32c/kWh
- Western Australia: 27-33c/kWh
- New South Wales: 28-36c/kWh
- South Australia: 30-38c/kWh
The spread inside each state is wider than the gap between most of them, which is worth sitting with: your retailer and your plan usually matter more than your postcode. Before making any calculation that decides a purchase, check your own bill - the per-unit charge is printed on every electricity bill in Australia.
What common appliances actually cost to run
The figures below use 30c/kWh, the national midpoint this site uses for every running-cost figure it states. For South Australia, multiply by about 1.15. For Tasmania and the ACT, multiply by about 0.85.
Every figure here is the median across the models we list in that category, taken from the label's own annual figure. Where a category isn't in our catalogue, it isn't in this table.
| Appliance | Median kWh/year (models we list) | Annual cost at 30c | |---|---|---| | Fridge - bottom mount | 299 | $90 | | Fridge - top mount | 312 | $94 | | Fridge - French door | 429 | $129 | | Fridge - bar / compact | 131 | $39 | | Dishwasher (label basis, 280 washes) | 190 | $57 | | Front loader washing machine (warm cycle) | 262 | $79 | | Top loader washing machine (warm cycle) | 360 | $108 | | Heat pump dryer | 127 | $38 | | Vented dryer | 302 | $91 |
Medians, not predictions. Each category has a wide spread - the dishwashers we list run from $26 to $96 a year on the same basis - and your usage decides where in it you land. The washing machine and dryer figures carry a usage assumption baked into the label; run more loads than the label assumes and you'll pay more.
Where the money actually hides
The second fridge. A bar fridge or an old full-size unit running in the garage is the classic invisible cost - it's never in front of you, so it never gets questioned. The compact fridges we list use a median 131kWh/year, about $39, and that's for current models in a temperate room. An older unit in a hot garage works considerably harder than that, because a fridge's job is moving heat out of the box and into the room around it. If a second fridge holds a case of drinks, it's worth asking what those drinks cost to keep cold.
Hot water and air conditioning. In most Australian homes these outrank every appliance in this table, often by a wide margin. We don't list either category, so we won't put numbers on them here - but if you're auditing a bill, start there rather than with the dishwasher. The kitchen is where the appliances are; it usually isn't where the money is.
The fridge you already own. A fridge runs continuously for its whole life, which is what makes it the appliance where efficiency compounds hardest. Among the fridges we list, the spread between layouts is real - a median 299kWh/year for a bottom mount against 429 for a French door - but the spread within any layout is wider still. That's the gap worth shopping.
How the star rating system actually translates to dollars
Australian appliances carry an energy star rating on a base scale to 6 stars, with an extended band above that for models beating the benchmark - the dryers we list run to 10. The rating is relative to the appliance's size category, not an absolute measure of how much power it draws.
A 600L fridge with 4 stars uses more electricity than a 400L fridge with 3.5 stars - because the 4-star rating means the 600L model is efficient for its size, not that it uses less power in absolute terms. The annual kWh figure printed on the label (required under Australian energy labelling law) is the number that tells you what you'll actually pay. Comparing kWh figures directly across models is more useful than comparing star ratings across different size categories.
The label also assumes standard test conditions - a set ambient temperature, a standard load, a typical usage pattern. Real-world usage will vary, but the relative ranking between models holds.
Buying on total cost, not purchase price
The full cost of an appliance is its purchase price plus what it costs to run for as long as you keep it. For something that runs continuously, like a fridge, that second number is not a rounding error.
The arithmetic is worth doing yourself, because it's simple. A fridge that costs $500 more but uses 200kWh less per year saves $60 a year at 30c - so it repays the premium in a bit over eight years. At South Australia's 34c midpoint, call it seven. At Tasmania's 25c, closer to ten. Whether that's a good trade depends on how long you plan to keep it, which is a question only you can answer.
The same logic applies to dryers, dishwashers, and washing machines - any appliance you'll run regularly for a decade or more. The cheaper model often isn't cheaper over time.
Practical changes that make a real difference
Time-of-use tariffs. If your plan charges less off-peak - usually overnight - running the dishwasher and washing machine in that window costs less for exactly the same work. How much less is the ratio between your peak and off-peak rates, both printed on your bill. 250 of the 288 washing machines we list have a delay-start timer for precisely this.
Fridge temperature settings. Food safety guidance puts the fridge compartment at or below 5°C and the freezer at −18°C. Running colder than you need costs energy for nothing, because the compressor works against a bigger temperature difference every hour of every day. Check what yours is set to; a lot of people never have.
Standby power. Televisions, set-top boxes and consoles draw power while doing nothing. Individually it's small; the reason it adds up is that it runs 8,760 hours a year, which is more hours than any appliance in the table above is actually working. A switched power board costs less than any appliance upgrade.
Once you're ready to find a fridge that balances purchase price against running efficiency, take our fridge quiz to compare the fridges we list.
Our fridges buying guide covers how capacity and star rating trade off against each other.