Range Cooker News: July 2026

The big news this fortnight sits on the bill rather than the cooker. The government has moved to take VAT off electricity from October, the forecasters have put a number on the winter price cap, and Martin Lewis has done the sums on what households will actually keep. All of it feeds straight into the running-cost side of choosing a range cooker.

The government is scrapping VAT on electricity from October

On 21 July the government announced it will cut VAT on domestic electricity from 5% to 0%, a temporary measure that runs from 1 October 2026 to the end of March 2027. It expects the change to take around £45 off a typical yearly electricity bill. The cut applies to electricity only, so gas and off-grid fuels such as heating oil and LPG are untouched. For range cooker buyers that draws a clear line: an electric heat-storage cooker like an Everhot or electric AGA picks up the benefit, while a gas or dual fuel range does not. You can read the announcement on GOV.UK. Our range cooker running cost calculator lets you test the new rate against your own kitchen.

Cornwall Insight still expects the October cap to edge up

Even with the VAT cut, bills are not falling. Cornwall Insight, whose forecasts usually land close to Ofgem’s confirmed figure, puts the October to December cap at about £1,700 a year for a typical dual fuel home, roughly 2% above the £1,663 cap that has applied since 1 July. Higher wholesale gas prices, driven by unrest in the Middle East, have cancelled out most of the VAT relief. Ofgem confirms the actual figure on 26 August. The forecast matters if you are weighing fuels this winter: the gap between electricity and gas running costs is not closing, so it still pays to run the numbers before you commit. The detail is in Cornwall Insight’s price cap update, and our AGA running costs guide sets the fuels side by side.

Martin Lewis: the real saving is nearer £20 over six months

MoneySavingExpert has looked at what the VAT cut leaves in your pocket once the cap rise is taken into account. Martin Lewis reckons the roughly £45 coming off is largely offset by about £25 going back on, so the net saving over the six months is closer to £20 for a typical household. Two details are worth knowing: the cut applies to your electricity usage but not to standing charges, and it lands on every tariff, including fixed deals. It is a small, temporary help rather than a reason to change your cooker plans, though it nudges the running-cost maths a little further towards electric cooking. The full breakdown is on MoneySavingExpert.