Heat pump running cost calculator

At the current price cap, a typical home would pay about £708.45 a year to heat with a heat pump (SCOP 3), against £757.15 with a gas boiler.

  • By Steven Stewart
  • Checked 20 October 2026
  • Ofgem price cap, October to December 2026
  • 3 sources
kWh

On your annual statement. 9,500 kWh is Ofgem’s typical household.

%

About 85% for a modern condensing boiler. Older boilers are lower.

Heat out for each unit of electricity in. 3 is a cautious figure; well-installed systems reach 4.

p per kWh

Heat pump tariffs can be much cheaper. Use yours if you know it.

p per kWh

If you also cook with gas, you keep paying the gas standing charge.

Heat pump cost a year£708.45
Gas boiler cost a year
£757.15
Heat pump saves you
£48.70
Electricity used
2,692 kWh
Heat your home needs
8,075 kWh

Your home needs about 8,075 kWh of heat a year. A heat pump with a SCOP of 3 would be about £48.70 a year cheaper than your gas boiler.

A negative saving means the heat pump costs more. Excludes the electricity standing charge, which you pay either way.

How the options compare

Yearly heating cost at your rates. SCOP is how efficient the heat pump is.

  • Heat pump, SCOP 2.5£850.14
  • Gas boiler£757.15
  • Heat pump, SCOP 3 (yours)£708.45
  • Heat pump, SCOP 3.5£607.24
  • Heat pump, SCOP 4£531.34

How we calculate this

We start from the gas you use now. Multiplying it by your boiler’s efficiency gives the heat your home actually needs. A heat pump makes that heat using electricity, dividing it by its SCOP (seasonal coefficient of performance).

At the current cap, electricity costs about 2.8 times as much as the heat from a gas boiler. So a heat pump needs a SCOP above about 2.8 to be cheaper on a standard tariff. Cheaper heat pump tariffs change that a lot.

Heat needed (kWh) = gas used × boiler efficiencyHeat pump electricity (kWh) = heat needed ÷ SCOPHeat pump cost = heat pump electricity × electricity rateBoiler cost = gas used × gas rate

Questions people ask

Is a heat pump cheaper to run than a gas boiler?

It depends on how efficient the heat pump is and your electricity price. On the standard price cap, a heat pump needs a SCOP above about 2.8 to beat an 85% efficient gas boiler. On a cheaper heat pump or time-of-use tariff, the savings are bigger.

What is SCOP?

The seasonal coefficient of performance: how much heat a heat pump produces for each unit of electricity, averaged over a year. A SCOP of 3 means 3 kWh of heat for every 1 kWh of electricity.

How much gas does a typical home use?

Ofgem’s typical figure is 9,500 kWh a year. Your own use is on your annual statement or in your supplier’s app, and using it gives a much more accurate result.

Do I save the gas standing charge?

Only if you disconnect from gas completely, including for cooking. That saves the 29.68p a day standing charge, about £108.33 a year.

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About this page

Who made it

Written and checked by Steven Stewart, founder and editor of Numwise. Last checked 20 October 2026 using the Ofgem price cap, October to December 2026. We update prices every time they change.

How we check our figures · All updates

Recent changes

  • Added a radiator BTU calculator, an immersion heater cost calculator and running cost pages for 8 more appliances.
  • Added running cost pages for 20 common appliances, from kettles to tumble dryers.
  • Checked all energy figures against the Ofgem price cap for October to December 2026: electricity 26.32p per kWh and 54.83p a day standing charge, gas 7.97p per kWh and 29.68p a day.

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