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. Our star-rating guide already found the right group to compare within: 8kg front loaders, the single largest capacity-and-loader-type group in the whole registry at 289 currently registered models, real machines tested against each other rather than against a different-sized or different-type machine the star rating alone can't fairly rank. This table lists the 10 cheapest, one row per genuinely distinct model (a handful of colour-code SKU variants of the same physical design are shown once, not repeated). 8kg dryers and 400–500 L fridges get the identical registry-ranking treatment, the other two of the four appliance classes we rank this way.
Why the combination washer-dryers are not in this table
69 of those 289 machines, 24%, are combination washer-dryers, more of them than any other front-loader size class carries. A combination machine washes and dries, and the register tests it on a wash program with the drying switched off, so its kWh figure is a wash figure: fair against a plain washer for washing, and silent about the drying half the machine is bought for. Rank one here, under a heading that says washing machines, and half a machine's job sits in a column where every other row shows all of it. They are counted out, and our 10kg league table shows what that exclusion is worth in a class where it changes the ranking: three of its top ten were combination machines, first place included. Here it changes nothing, which is luck rather than a reason to keep them. Rank the whole class with them in, under the same rule, and the ten rows below come out unchanged. A further three machines are left unmarked by the register, and a machine whose class we do not know is not one we will rank as a washer, so the table ranks the remaining 217 plain 8kg front loaders. It changes which class is biggest, too. 8kg is the largest group on the register, and after the exclusion the 223 plain 10kg machines are a slightly larger ranked field than these 217. Both are far past the size either needs to hold a steady median, so both leagues stay.
Top loaders exist at 8kg too, just far fewer of them (56 against 217 front loaders), and mixing the two classes would repeat the exact star-rating trap that guide already warns against: comparing machines the regulator's own test doesn't treat as equivalent. This list stays inside the fair comparison.
What it actually costs
The 10 cheapest-to-run 8kg front loaders currently in the government’s registry, at 5 loads a week on New South Wales’s reference rate.
| Rank | Model | kWh/load | A year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | V-ZUG AW6T-11025 | 0.41 | $34.63 |
| 2 | Mistral MBWM576-F8W | 0.47 | $39.70 |
| 3 | AEG 7384O4C | 0.49 | $41.39 |
| 3 | Kogan KAFWASH75T | 0.49 | $41.39 |
| 3 | TCL WF75P10W | 0.49 | $41.39 |
| 3 | Telefunken TF750AUFL8 | 0.49 | $41.39 |
| 4 | Eurotech 360226 | 0.50 | $42.23 |
| 5 | Fisher & Paykel WH8060J5 | 0.51 | $43.08 |
| 5 | Haier HWF85K Series | 0.51 | $43.08 |
| 6 | Samsung WW80T504DTW | 0.52 | $43.92 |
Ranked by the registry’s own kWh-per-load test figure, cheapest first. Models tied on that figure share a rank. Same-design colour-code variants of one model are shown once. Running cost only: purchase price isn’t priced here.
What the list actually shows
The whole table spans 0.41 to 0.52 kWh a load. In money that is about $7.86 between the top and the bottom of the list in the ACT, about $10.93 in South Australia, so picking the marginally cheapest of these ten is close to a rounding error. What matters is staying out of the expensive end of the same size class: the least efficient plain 8kg front loader on the register (1.62 kWh a load) costs about 4 times the top model, a real $115.72 to $160.91 a year depending where you live.
Brand recognition isn't doing much work in this list either. AEG, Fisher & Paykel, Haier and Samsung, names most Australian shoppers already know, sit at the identical or near-identical kWh-per-load figure as Kogan, TCL, Telefunken, Eurotech and Mistral, brands with a smaller retail footprint. Four different manufacturers tie at exactly 0.49 kWh/load, which is why they share one rank rather than filling four slots. The registry doesn't reward the well-known name with a lower running cost; it rewards whichever engineering happens to land at that number, regardless of who put their badge on it.
Cheapest vs worst in class, state by state
Same ranking everywhere, different money. This is the rank-1 model above against the least efficient 8kg 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¢ | $34.63 | $136.84 |
| Victoria | 29.8¢ | $31.85 | $125.86 |
| Queensland | 31.2¢ | $33.35 | $131.77 |
| South Australia | 38.1¢ | $40.72 | $160.91 |
| Western Australia | 33.6¢ | $35.91 | $141.90 |
| Tasmania | 28.9¢ | $30.89 | $122.05 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 27.4¢ | $29.29 | $115.72 |
| Northern Territory | 31.7¢ | $33.88 | $133.88 |
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
How far clear of the rest is the top-ranked machine?
Further than anything else in the table, and still not by much money. The V-ZUG AW6T-11025 is 0.06 kWh a load under the Mistral at rank 2 and 0.08 under the four-way tie at rank 3, worth about $5.07 and $6.76 a year respectively on NSW's rate. Every other step down the table is a cent or two of energy per load, which is why the ten of them land within about $9.29 of each other.
Does the ranking change from state to state?
No, and that's worth knowing before you go looking for a list written for your own state. The order is set by each model's own kWh-per-load test figure, which is measured in a lab and doesn't move with electricity prices. A state's rate only scales every dollar figure in the table up or down together, which is why the picker above changes the money and leaves the ranking exactly where it was.
Does a well-known brand mean a cheaper-to-run washing machine?
Not on this evidence. Four different manufacturers, a mix of household names and smaller brands, tie at exactly 0.49 kWh a load in this table. The registry ranks the tested figure, not the badge on the machine. Our brand-concentration guide compares this directly against the dishwasher list, where one premium brand takes six of the ten spots.
What if I'm shopping for a 6kg, 10kg or 12kg machine?
Then this table isn't your list. Each capacity is a separate group of registered models with its own cheapest and priciest, and the regulator's test doesn't rank a 6kg machine against a 10kg one, so a top 10 pulled from a different size tells you nothing about yours. The method still travels though: find your own size on the label, compare kWh per load inside that size only, and treat the number on the sticker as the ranking. Our star-rating guide walks through why the star count on its own can't do that job.
What if I wash more or less than five loads a week?
The figures here scale straight up and down with how much you wash, because a washing machine's energy use is per load, not per day. Ten loads a week doubles every number in the table; three loads a week is a bit over half. Put your own habit into the washing machine cost per load calculator at the foot of this page and it prices your own machine at your own rate.
Sources
Per-model kWh-per-load, capacity and loader type for the 8kg front-loader comparison: the same energyrating.gov.au registration database (July 2026 snapshot) our washing machine calculator's own model finder and star-rating guide both already use, filtered to 8kg front loaders. The register lists 289 of them. 69 are combination washer-dryers, which the register tests with the drying switched off, and 3 it does not classify at all, so the 217 plain washing machines are what this page ranks. 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 (Synergy Home Plan), Tasmanian (OTTER), ACT (ICRC) and NT (Electricity Pricing Order) regulated standing offers for the rest. Real market plans vary, so check your own bill for your exact rate. 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.