Are electric heaters cheaper to run than central heating? Here's a few things you should know

Given the recent drop in temperature, it's certainly starting to feel like winter is coming. As we look to start heating our homes without breaking the bank, you might have been asking, are electric heaters cheaper to run than central heating?

It can be difficult to know the most cost-effective way of keeping our house warm in winter. Should we be relying on one of the best electric heaters, or is it more economical to switch the central heating on? Getting clued up on the better option will let you stay toasty warm at home, without making your energy bills sky-high.

To clear things up, we've asked the experts are electric heaters cheaper to run than central heating. It turns out the answer isn't all that straightforward - here's everything you need to know.

When it comes to answering are electric heaters cheaper to run than central heating, there are a few variables at play. To summarise, electric heaters are cheaper if you're only heating one room, but central heating is cheaper if you're wanting to heat the whole house.

Most central heating in the UK is powered by gas, which is a lot cheaper to run than electricity. Liz Hunter, Director at Money Expert, has broken down the cost of an electric heater vs central heating based on the most recent energy price cap change.

• Electricity cost: 24.50p per kWh
• Gas cost: 6.24p per kWh
• Electric heater power: 2 kW
• Gas boiler efficiency: 80%
• Cost per hour of electric heater: 2 kW × 24.50p/kWh = 49p per hour
• Cost per hour of (gas) central heating: 2 kW ÷ 0.8 (efficiency) × 6.24p/kWh = 15.6p per hour

So if your central heating is powered by gas (as is standard in the UK), it's going to be a more cost-effective way of heating your home than an electric heater. The same applies to an electric heater vs gas heater as well.

You'd also need to use multiple electric heaters to heat the house, as they don't give off enough heat to travel across rooms. So if you leave your central heating switched on for the same amount of time as multiple electric heaters, the central heating bill is going to be significantly lower.

'An electric heater approximately three times the cost of central heating,' Liz from Money Expert says. 'Though it's worth noting that renewable energy does come into play. If you use solar panels, for example, it might make an electric heater a cheaper (and a more environmentally friendly) option for you in comparison to central heating.'

When should you use an electric heater?

That being said, there are still times when using an electric heater makes financial sense - especially if you've found one of the cheapest electric heaters to run.

'Using an electric heater to heat single rooms or smaller spaces can be more cost effective than heating your whole home with central heating,' says Atit Chopra, Product Development Director, Beldray. 'Electric heaters often include smart features such as regulation from your phone, and automatic shut off when windows are open to conserve energy, making them a simple and efficient option for heating rooms that receive the most footfall.'

When you turn the central heating on, you're effectively heating the whole house, but this can be wasteful if some rooms aren't being used. If you're working from home and spending most of the day in your home office for instance, it would be cheaper to heat that space with an electric heater, and leave the central heating off.

'The ideal option will vary depending on the heating requirements', Atit summarises. 'Strategically placing electric heaters in conjunction with central heating can assist with saving energy expenses.'

FAQs

How much does it cost to run an electric heater for 1 hour?

To work out the running costs of your electric heater, you'll need to know the heater's wattage. As an example, the Dreo Electric Heater, available at Amazon - rated the best overall in our buying guide - uses 1500W of energy. We then divide this by 1000 to get the kilowatt hours (in this case the heater 1.5 per kWh). Multiplying this by the current electricity rate - 24.5p per kWh as of October 2024 - gets you the cost of running the heater for 1 hour - in this case, the heater costs around 37p per hour to run.

'The running cost of a product is usually available in the manual or product description - anything between 17p-25p per hour is considered pretty cheap,' says Erin Hannah, Electrician, TaskHer.

What is the cheapest way to heat a room?

If you want to heat one room rather than the whole house, a plug-in electric heater is the most cost-effective approach.

'If you want to heat a single room, consider turning off the radiators in the rooms you don’t need to heat,' Liz from Money Expert says. 'This will significantly cut back the cost of your heating bill, whilst allowing you to maximise heat in the room you spend the most time in. Generally speaking, this approach will be cheaper than using an electric heater.'

Some central heating systems don't enable you to turn off radiators individually, in which case, using an electric heater is definitely going to work out cheaper. Just be conscious of how long you leave your heater switched on for, especially if it has a higher wattage - though models with higher power do tend to heat a space quicker, so won't need to be plugged in for long.