What is the cheapest electric heater to run? I compare the running costs of our top rated heaters and reveal the other key factors to consider

With the autumn chill is starting to set in, if, like me, you tend to be at home during the day, the last thing you want is your central heating on all day long. Fortunately, complementing your central heating with a portable heat emitter can help concentrate your heat where you need it, and prevent wasting energy heating spaces you're not using. But for the most economical option, you'll need to know the cheapest electric heater to run.

The running costs of the best electric heaters will largely depend on how powerful they are and how often you use them, but the type of electric heater you choose can also play into it.

Whichever type you choose, make sure you know how to use your electric heater most efficiently, for the most affordable running costs possible.

What's the cheapest electric heater to run?

Ultimately, the cheapest electric heater to run will be the one that has the lowest wattage. When it comes to how much it costs to run an electric heater, something like this Russell Hobbs Compact Portable Black Ceramic Plug in Fan Heater (£20 at Amazon) uses just 700W of power, meaning it costs just under 18.5p per hour to run, based on the October 2026 energy price cap.

Electric heaters with variable power modes can also help you to use them in the most cost-effective way. For example, the Duux Threesixty 2 (£120 at Duux) has three different heat levels, with the lowest using just 800W of power, and costing around 21p per hour. In contrast, the highest heat level uses 1800W of power, which will cost just over 47p per hour to use.

However, it's important not to focus solely on a low wattage electric heater to keep your running costs under control. Low wattage heaters will only be suitable for heating smaller rooms. If you try using a low-wattage electric heater to heat your living room, for example, you will likely find you can barely feel the benefit and, as a result, you'll end up having it on for longer as it works harder to heat the space. That could actually use more energy than if you bought an appropriately-sized heater that was more effective and had it on for less time.

I've compared the wattage, running costs and room size suitability of our top rated electric heaters:

If you want to see the running costs of other electric heaters, all you need to know is the wattage and you can use our calculator below:

Beyond the wattage, you should consider other factors like the presence of intelligent eco modes, accurate temperature setting, open window detection and those that offer good heat retention to find the one that is actually the most affordable to run.

'The cheapest electric heaters are those that are most energy efficient, can retain the most heat and can effectively heat a room without using up loads of electricity, ' says Jess Steele, heating and technology expert at BestHeating.

All of these features will improve and adjust your comfort levels, prevent unintentional overuse, and automatically reduce unnecessary energy consumption. All of which will make the heater cheaper to run than one without those features.

Fan heaters

A popular type of electric heater, fan heaters tend to have wattages ranging from 1000W to 2000W. That means you can expect to pay between 26p and 53p/kWh to run them (based on current energy prices).

Looking beyond the running costs, fan heaters are so popular because they can heat the room quickly (thanks to the fan), even quicker if they have an oscillating mode, like the Morphy Richards HeatFlux Ultra Thin 2kW Tower Fan Heater.

Many also use a mixture of fan power and ceramic heating too, so you don’t need to choose one or the other in the ceramic vs fan heater debate.

The downside of fan heaters is that once they are turned off they cool very quickly.

Convection heaters

Typically, convector heaters have a wattage of around 2000W which means they cost around 53p per hour to run.

'Radiators, electric panel heaters and convector heaters work by creating a convection current in a room. As the hot air rises, it circles to the other side of the room, cools and sinks and travels back along the floor to the heater to be reheated again,' explains Jonny Samuel, buying manager at Ryman. 'They take some time to heat a room, but once turned off the heat lingers.'

This efficiency can mean you don't need to have a convector heater on for as long as a fan heater.

Halogen heaters

As a general rule of thumb, halogen heaters have a wattage of around 1200W. However, some models offer adjustable heat settings of 400, 800, and 1200W, meaning each setting uses around 0.4, 0.8, and 1.2kW per hour respectively. This makes them technically some of the cheapest electric heaters to run, with expected running costs of between 10.5p to 32p per hour depending on your desired setting.

'Halogen heaters prove the cheapest option and one of the best products when it comes to heating quickly,' explains James Longley, managing director at Utility Bidder.

Halogen heaters have directional heat output, which means that they are good for heating a person right in front of them, however they would struggle to heat a room as a whole. If that's what you're looking for, you will likely use the higher heat settings for longer, which will negate the running cost benefits of the lower power settings.

Similar to fan heaters, they don't offer good heat retention once switched off.

Oil-filled radiators

The wattage of the best oil-filled heaters can range anywhere between 500W to 2500W, depending on the model. This means that the cost of running an oil-filled heater can fall between just 13p and as high as 66p per hour, depending on the specific model and setting you use.

But where fan heaters heat up and cool down quickly, oil-filled radiators are the opposite. It takes a bit longer for them to warm up, but once they're warm, they provide steady heat which makes them ideal if you want heat for a few hours as opposed to a quick boost. They also offer good heat retention, and will keep on kicking out heat for up to an hour after they've been switched off.

Infrared heaters

Generally speaking, infrared heaters are considered cheap(ish) to run. They hold a wattage of anywhere between 900W to 2000W, depending on whether you opt for infrared heating panels or something more akin to an infrared patio heater. And so the cost to run can range from about 24p to just over 53p per hour.

'Infrared heaters produce heat that is a product of invisible light. This is done by converting electricity into radiant heat,' explains James Longley at Utility Bidder. 'This heat is effectively the same heat feeling we would get from the winter sun, and an infrared heating panel would commonly be visualised as being a long panel with radiant orange light.'

You can also get electric heaters that use a combination of infrared and convection like this AENO model:

How can I make an electric heater cheaper to run?

Once you've chosen the most suitable and efficient heater for your home, there are other things you can do to ensure the running costs remain as low as possible.

• Position it properly. Blocking your heater with furniture affects how well it can heat your space, which means you may have it on for longer than you need to.
• Keep it clean. Dust build up can impact air circulation and heat output, making your heater use more energy that necessary as it tries to compensate.
• Close windows and doors. When you've gone to the effort of buying a suitably-powered appliance for your space, leaving windows or doors open will mean your electric heater has to work harder and use more energy to warm the room up.
• Don't use it as a primary heat source. When it comes to how long an electric heater should be on for, if used for hours and hours everyday, the running costs will skyrocket. Instead, use your heater for a complementary burst of heat when and/or where you need it, rather than as your main source of heat for your home.
• Address any draught or insulation issues you may have at home. Most electric heaters come with warnings that they should only be used occasionally and in well-insulated homes. If you find your home struggles to retain heat, you might need to upgrade your insulation or do some draught proofing before running your electric heater for too long.

FAQs

If you find the electric heater that's right for your home isn't as cheap to run as you thought, then it's worthwhile looking at other ways to save energy at home to help compensate.