Heating costs at a glance
At the Oct to Dec 2026 price cap, with heating oil at 120.13p a litre, cheapest first. Central heating is for a house that needs 5kW of heat while it's on.
| Way of keeping warm | What it heats | Per hour | A 4-hour evening |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electric blanket (double) | You, in bed | 2.6p | 11p |
| Heated throw | You, on the sofa | 3.2p | 13p |
| Halogen heater | Whoever is in front of it | 32p | £1.26 |
| Oil-filled radiator | One room | 39p | £1.58 |
| Air source heat pump | The whole house | 45p | £1.80 |
| Gas boiler | The whole house | 47p | £1.90 |
| Fan heater | One room, quickly | 53p | £2.11 |
| Oil boiler | The whole house | 73p | £2.91 |
| Electric heaters or electric boiler | The whole house | £1.32 | £5.26 |
Heat the person or heat the room
The cheapest options on the list don't heat a room at all. An electric blanket or heated throw puts a small amount of heat right where you are, which is why it costs pennies an hour. If one person is sitting still in one room for the evening, that is usually the cheapest way to stay warm.
It stops working out when several people use different rooms, or when the house gets cold enough for damp to set in. Cold walls are where condensation and mould start, so keeping some background heat in the house matters even if you use a throw to top up.
Heating the whole house
Gas costs far less per kWh than electricity under the price cap, so a gas boiler heats a whole house for much less than electric heaters doing the same job. A heat pump runs on electricity but moves around three units of heat for every unit it uses, which brings it level with gas, or a little below. Oil isn't price capped, so where it lands depends on what you paid for your last delivery; put that figure in the calculator.
Plug-in heaters make sense for one room, for short bursts, or where there is no central heating. Heating the whole house with them costs far more than gas, oil or a heat pump.
Sources
Checked 15 October 2026.