Where this list comes from
The government’s own energyrating.gov.au registration database lists every clothes washer model registered for sale in Australia under the mandatory energy-label scheme, each tested the same way, on the same standard. 10kg front loaders are the second-largest capacity class in it, 262 of the 1,002 registered front loaders, behind 8kg’s 289 and ahead of every other size. That is comfortably enough to hold a steady median, the same bar our 8kg washing machine, dishwasher, dryer and fridge league tables are each held to.
Why the combination washer-dryers are not in this table
37 of those 262 machines, about 14 in every 100, are combination washer-dryers, and the register marks them as such. It also tests them with the drying switched off, which their registered test program states in as many words. A combination machine’s kWh figure is therefore a wash figure. It is fair against a plain washing machine for the washing and says nothing about the drying the machine was also bought to do.
That matters on this page in particular, because three of them would otherwise sit in this top ten, one of them in first place. The lowest tested figure of any 10kg combination machine is 0.47 kWh a load, under everything in the table below. Ranking them here would put a half-measured number at the top of a page whose heading promises washing machines, so they are left out of the ranking. The drying half of that decision gets priced by our dryer cost per load calculator.
Two more machines leave the combination column blank, so the register does not say either way about them. A model whose class is unstated is not one this page will rank as a washing machine, and both sit well down the class on energy in any case, so neither could have reached the table. That is the whole subtraction: 262 registered, less 37 combination machines, less 2 unmarked, leaves the 223 plain 10kg front-loading washing machines the table ranks. One row per genuinely distinct model, since a handful of colour-code variants of one design are shown once rather than repeated.
What it actually costs
The 10 cheapest-to-run 10kg front loaders currently in the government's registry, at 5 loads a week on New South Wales's reference rate.
| Rank and model | kWh per load | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1. BOSCH F55C-AVG1.5CU | 0.50 kWh/load | $42.23/year |
| 1. EUROTECH 360221 | 0.50 kWh/load | $42.23/year |
| 1. SIEMENS WG54H2A1AU | 0.50 kWh/load | $42.23/year |
| 2. BOSCH WGG254Z0AU | 0.51 kWh/load | $43.08/year |
| 3. EUROTECH 360227 | 0.54 kWh/load | $45.61/year |
| 4. Haier HWFS95N Series | 0.55 kWh/load | $46.46/year |
| 5. AEG LF8C1612A | 0.59 kWh/load | $49.84/year |
| 6. FISHER & PAYKEL WH1060D Series | 0.60 kWh/load | $50.68/year |
| 6. Haier HWF10DB2 | 0.60 kWh/load | $50.68/year |
| 7. Esatto EFLW100 Series | 0.61 kWh/load | $51.52/year |
Ranked by the registry's own kWh-per-load test figure, cheapest first. Models that tie on that figure take one rank between them rather than a numbered slot each, which is why ten rows run from rank 1 to rank 7. Combination washer-dryers are left out, for the reason above. Same-design colour-code variants of one model are shown once. Running cost only: purchase price isn't priced here.
What the ranking shows
The ten of them span $42.23 to $51.52 a year, so choosing between rows inside this table is worth about $9.29 a year at most. The money is in the rows the table does not show: the median 10kg front loader costs $55.75 a year, and the Speed Queen AFBE9BSP305A costs $187.52, 4.4 times the top of this table. Staying out of the bottom of the class is worth roughly $135.99 a year more than winning the top of it.
The badge on the machine is not doing much work here either. The ten rows carry seven different manufacturers and no single brand holds more than two of them, a spread closer to our 8kg ranking, where ten rows carry ten different names, than to the dishwasher ranking, where one premium brand takes six of the ten. Our brand-concentration guide works through why those two look so different.
The 10kg class against the 8kg one
Put the two class medians side by side and there is almost nothing in it: 0.66 kWh a load for a 10kg front loader against 0.67 for an 8kg one. Divide each by the capacity you are buying and the picture changes: 0.066 kWh per kilogram against 0.084, about 21% less energy for every kilogram of washing the drum will hold. That is the same conclusion the bigger-machine guide above reaches across all seven front-loader sizes, and it is why buying small to save money tends to backfire. It only pays if you fill the machine you buy.
Cheapest vs worst in class, state by state
Same ranking everywhere, different money. This is the rank-1 model above against the least efficient 10kg front loader in the same registered class, both at 5 loads a week on each state’s own reference rate.
| State | Rate | Cheapest | Worst in class |
|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | 32.4¢ | $42.23 | $187.52 |
| Victoria | 29.8¢ | $38.84 | $172.47 |
| Queensland | 31.2¢ | $40.67 | $180.57 |
| South Australia | 38.1¢ | $49.66 | $220.51 |
| Western Australia | 33.6¢ | $43.80 | $194.46 |
| Tasmania | 28.9¢ | $37.67 | $167.26 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 27.4¢ | $35.72 | $158.58 |
| Northern Territory | 31.7¢ | $41.32 | $183.47 |
Your state is highlighted if you have set one. Rates are the regulated reference tariffs listed in Sources below, current for 2026–27.
Common questions
Why do three machines share first place?
Because the register says they are level, and rounding them apart would invent a winner it never named. The BOSCH F55C-AVG1.5CU, EUROTECH 360221 and SIEMENS WG54H2A1AU all test at 0.50 kWh a load, so all three sit at rank 1 and the machine below them is rank 2. Tied models take one rank between them here rather than a numbered slot each, which is why the ten rows in the table run from rank 1 to rank 7. On this evidence the three cost the same to run, and the choice between them belongs to price, how it fits the laundry rather than to the power bill.
Is a 10kg machine cheaper to run than an 8kg one?
Per load, barely: the two class medians sit 0.01 kWh apart, small change either way. Per kilogram of capacity the 10kg class is about 21% ahead, so the bigger drum is the better buy for a household that fills it and the worse one for a household that runs it half-empty out of habit. Our bigger-machine guide puts the same question to every registered size at once.
Would a washer-dryer combo beat everything in this table?
On the register's wash figure alone, three of them do, the cheapest at 0.47 kWh a load. That figure is measured with the drying turned off, so it is what a combination machine costs used as a washing machine and nothing more. Add the drying back and you are in the territory our dryer-type guide covers, where the technology inside the drum swings the bill several times further than any wash cycle does.
What about a 10kg top loader?
Different class, different list. 76 10kg top loaders are registered, and the regulator's own test does not rank a top loader against a front loader, so mixing them would repeat the trap our star-rating guide warns about. Our front load vs top load guide compares the two types on their own terms.
Does the ranking change from state to state?
No, and that is worth knowing before you go hunting for a list written for your own state. The order comes from each model's own kWh-per-load test figure, measured in a lab, which does not move with electricity prices. Setting your location in the header changes every dollar figure on this page together and leaves the ranking exactly where it was.
Sources
Per-model kWh-per-load, rated capacity, loader type and combination-machine status for the 10kg comparison: the energyrating.gov.au registration database (July 2026 snapshot) our washing machine calculator’s own model finder already serves, filtered to the 262 currently registered 10kg front loaders and then to the 223 of those the register does not mark as combination washer-dryers. Electricity rates, one regulated reference tariff per state, current for 2026–27: the AER Default Market Offer for NSW, south-east QLD and SA, the Victorian Default Offer for VIC, and the WA, Tasmanian, ACT and NT regulated standing offers for the rest. The page is served on New South Wales’ rate and switches to yours when you set a location. This guide is general information, not a recommendation to buy any specific model; check current retail availability and price before deciding. All fetched July 2026.