News
Range Cooker Fuel Costs: Kerosene Up 90%, Gas Down 15.5%
Updated 2026
The government’s quarterly fuel price figures, published on 29 September, put a number on what owners of oil-fired AGAs and Rayburns have felt all year: kerosene has nearly doubled while mains gas and electricity got cheaper. That shift changes the sums for anyone choosing a range cooker this autumn. We also have a short note on where oil is heading this month, and a Tesco recall for anyone with a glass latte mug in the cupboard.
Official figures: heating oil up 90.2% on a year, mains gas down 15.5%
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s Quarterly Energy Prices release, published on 29 September 2026, covers April to June. After allowing for inflation, the price households paid for liquid fuels (domestic kerosene and similar heating oils) was 90.2% higher than in the same quarter of 2025 and 30.4% higher than in January to March. The department puts this down mainly to the rise in crude oil prices caused by the conflict in the Middle East. Its more recent monthly data show oil prices falling in June and July, then rising 13.0% between July and August.
Mains fuels went the other way. Over the same year, real-terms prices fell 8.2% for electricity and 15.5% for gas.
For a range cooker buyer, that gap is the story. Whatever the running-cost comparison between oil, gas and electric looked like when you last checked, it has moved a long way against oil in twelve months, and that matters most for an always-on heat-storage range, which burns fuel day and night. Oil can fall as quickly as it rose, so this is not a reason to rip out a working oil range, but it is a good reason to redo the sums with today’s prices before you replace one. Our comparison of gas, electric and induction cookers, the guide to whether electric range cookers are expensive to run and the range cooker running cost calculator will let you plug in your own prices. If you are off the gas grid, see LPG and oil range cookers. Source: DESNZ, Quarterly Energy Prices: September 2026.
Oil since then: still easing in October
The quarterly figures stop at June, and the weekly picture since has been more encouraging. Northern Ireland’s weekly survey, the most complete public record of heating oil prices, has now shown three falls in a row since mid-September, with 900 litres averaging £963.90 on 8 October, a little under 107p a litre. That is still about twice the level of a year ago. If you are filling a tank for the winter, our page on heating oil prices per litre explains how to compare quotes. Source: Consumer Council for Northern Ireland weekly archive.
Tesco recalls an F&F glass latte mug that may shatter
The Office for Product Safety and Standards published a recall on 5 October 2026 for the Tesco F&F Glass Latte Mug, a tall glass mug with a curved handle, barcode 05057967613311, sold from September 2025 to August 2026. The notice says the mug may shatter during use, so a break with a hot drink inside could scald or cut, and that it does not meet the General Product Safety Regulations 2005.
If you have one, stop using it and take it back to any Tesco store for a full refund; no receipt is needed. Tesco Customer Services is on 0800 248 123. For the bigger appliances, we keep a running list of cooker recalls in the UK. Source: GOV.UK product recall 2610-0017.
