We’re exploring that crucial question: how should you heat your building? This is Part 1 of our three-part series, focusing on what different heating systems actually cost to run.
We’ve compared common UK heating options based on early 2025 energy prices using a standard 100m² home with typical heat loss. Your actual costs will vary (especially if you have your own solar panels or wind turbine), but this gives you a helpful comparison.
Hydrogen Boiler Central Heating System
Future-friendly but currently expensive
- Pros: No emissions from your building, potential for the future
- Cons: Very expensive to run right now, wastes energy in production
Producing and purchasing hydrogen is currently costly due to limited infrastructure. The primary production method, using electricity (which is also expensive now), results in an energy loss, meaning you get less energy out of the hydrogen than the electricity you put in. Despite the current costs, hydrogen presents key advantages: zero carbon emissions at the point of use, the potential for utilising existing gas infrastructure with modifications, and the ability to be stored.
Electric Storage Heaters
Simple but costly for larger spaces
- Pros: Easy to install, good for small well-insulated spaces
- Cons: Expensive to run in bigger or draughty homes
Currently, heating with electric storage heaters or an electric boiler is expensive due to high electricity market prices. Although these heaters are very efficient at converting electricity to heat, they are limited by the underlying cost of electricity. While the UK’s increasing reliance on inexpensive renewable electricity is promising for price reduction and decarbonisation, the grid still depends on costly fossil fuel power stations.
The government aims to accelerate renewable energy generation to address both electricity prices and carbon emissions. A lot of buildings with EPC ratings of E or lower probably have electric heaters causing a high running cost.
Electric heaters are inexpensive to install so in small well-insulated spaces, may have a lower lifetime cost.
Infrared Heaters
Targeted heating that needs careful management
- Pros: Cheap to install, heat specific areas directly
- Cons: Can cause damp problems if used incorrectly
The running cost of infrared heaters for a home is commonly debated. They are powered by electricity so are expensive to run but they heat areas more directly so their heat can be better timed and targeted. The chart shows a lower running cost based on the assumption that they will be on less than a conventional electric heater. They are cheap to install and thus in small well-insulated spaces can be cost-effective over their lifetime.
It must be noted that other building issues can occur with infrared heating as people tend to heat the building less to save costs. A common one we see is colder spots where the heat isn’t targeted creating condensation and damp in these areas. Another one is owners turning the heating on when in the building and then off when leaving commonly trapping moisture inside the building and with no heating to keep the water in the air it condenses on the surfaces and can create mould.
In certain scenarios, it can be a great heating scenario but in the wrong scenario, it can be expensive or create expensive building problems.
LPG Boiler Central Heating System
Off-grid solution but pricey fuel
- Pros: Suitable for off-grid homes
- Cons: Expensive fuel
Next, we are moving into the boilers and methods that burn fuels to generate heat. The most expensive of which is a Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG). This has a similar burning efficiency to other boilers but is a more expensive fuel. Commonly used in more remote locations as it can be stored in tanks.
Log Burner
Traditional and potentially cheap
- Pros: Relatively inexpensive fuel, works off-grid
- Cons: Localised heat, higher maintenance
Log burners are commonly used throughout England and the current market rate for logs is less expensive than other fuels. Some people also have access to waste or free wood making this method of heating relatively inexpensive. The downsides are they have to be tended to, are harder to control temperature and the majority of the heat is radiated, so only significantly heat the room they are in.
Oil Boiler
Common off-grid option
- Pros: Good efficiency, widely available off-grid
- Cons: Price still volatile, carbon emissions
Similar efficiency to other boilers with the market rate for heating oil (kerosene) being slightly less than LPG. Like with LPG, it is commonly used in places where mains gas is not available.
Biomass Boiler
Renewable option with reasonable running costs
- Pros: Renewable, lower running cost
- Cons: Needs storage space, frequent deliveries
Biomass boilers commonly use wood chips or similar for fuel. Much more efficient than a log burner and similar efficiency to other boilers. The current market price of biomass is less expensive than LPG and oil. The disadvantage of biomass boilers is the fuel is less energy-dense and thus commonly needs more regular deliveries of fuel.
Gas Boiler
The UK standard for good reason
- Pros: Affordable, reliable, widely available
- Cons: Still a fossil fuel
The most common boiler fuel in the UK is natural gas. The majority of UK homes have mains gas available and it is an inexpensive fuel. Mains gas boilers have reached high levels of efficiency and burn cleanly resulting in less visible pollution across UK cities.
Air Source Heat Pumps
Modern, efficient but needs good installation
- Pros: Lower running costs than gas (when installed properly), government grants available
- Cons: Expensive to install, less efficient in very cold weather
Air source heat pumps are fuelled by electricity and if installed well the latest generation has a lower running cost than a gas-powered system. Whilst electricity is currently expensive they do this by drawing heat from the local air. This results in them using about 25% of the electricity of a conventional electric storage heater system. These systems are dependent on the temperature of the outside air so in very cold temperatures a gas heating system may be less expensive but across the full year, a well-installed air source heat pump should be cheaper to run. They are expensive to install and thus in smaller, very well-insulated spaces other heating systems may be more appropriate.
The government is heavily incentivising installing heat pumps for several reasons. Firstly, it’s a good step towards the net zero target, secondly, they are energy efficient which will reduce the country’s overall energy usage and if they succeed in reducing electricity cost relative to gas they will become significantly cheaper to run than fossil fuel alternatives.
Ground Source Heat Pumps
The cheapest to run but most expensive to install
- Pros: Very low running costs
- Cons: Costly and complex installation
The lowest running cost in our list is the ground source heat pump but is likely to be the most expensive to install. This harnesses heat from the ground instead of the air. Due to the ground being warmer than the air in winter, it is able to harness more energy in the winter months reducing it’s running cost. The gap between air source and ground source has been significantly closed recently by improved refrigerants making air source commonly a better investment.
Summary
Choosing the right heating system involves weighing up both immediate and long-term costs against your specific circumstances.
Energy costs are an ever-changing landscape with different technologies converting this to heat in different efficiencies. In early 2025 mains electricity is significantly more expensive than burnable fuels but heat pump technology has evolved so it can overcome this difference.
In our next blog, we’ll look at how much energy each system actually uses and which technologies are most efficient.