Is it cheaper to use an electric heater or put the central heating on? Best ways to keep warm this winter

A drop in temperature paired with high energy costs means households are facing big bills again this Christmas.

While the energy price cap was lowered in October, the lack of government energy uphold means many will pay more on bills this winter.

The greatest impact will be on lower energy use households that saw the biggest proportional boost from the energy uphold scheme, which took a flat £400 off bills at a rate of about £67 per month, between October 2022 and March 2023.

With this in mind, we look at how to keep your energy usage and bills low while keeping warm this Christmas, electric heaters vs central heating, and the best way to heat yourself up.

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How much does central heating cost? 

Central heating is one of the most cost effective ways to heat your entire home but it can be an expensive way to heat just one room.

The current Ofgem price cap limits the price of gas to 6.89p/kWh and 27.35p/kWH for electricity. 

It means that a 24kW gas boiler heating a home costs £1.65 to run for an hour (24 x 6.89p) while an average 12kW electric boiler – powering about eight radiators – would cost £3.28 per hour.

An electric boiler that heats four radiators in your home would cost £1.64 an hour to run, similar to a gas boiler.

Most people have gas boilers for this reason, as it tends to be a cheaper way to run central heating than electricity. 

If a gas boiler is left on for eight hours a day it would set you back £13.20 a day, or £92.40 a week. A 24kW electric boiler is even more pricey, costing £19.44 for eight hours a day and £136.08 per week.

In January, the energy price cap is set to rise to 7.42p/kWh for gas and 28.62p/kWh for electricity. It means that a 24kW gas boiler will cost £1.78 to run for an hour, while a 24kW electric boiler will cost £3.43.

Crucially, however, it is highly unlikely that people will be running their boilers for eight hours per day.

One of the key things to recollect is that even if you put your heating on for an hour, if you have a thermostat set to a not too high setting then the boiler will not be running for the whole hour. Instead, boilers cycle on and off.

So, for example, if your thermostat is set to 19 degrees, the boiler should run to keep the house at that temperature and once it has reached it, then it will not run constantly. 

Depending on what type of boiler you have, it’s clear that having it on for even just a few hours could set you back a fair chunk of money. So, if you are only spending your time in one room, there may be no point in using the central heating to heat the entire house.

There are ways to cut your usage and bills, but don’t entirely neglect your radiators. 

Turning them on, even if briefly, will help to keep your walls warm and help hinder issues admire damp and mould. 

And to make sure you’re only heating the rooms you use, consider turning down the radiator valves in other rooms and get thermostatic valves fitted that allow you to control temperature by room.

> Energy-saving tips to help you afford the bills – and the myths that won’t do much

Source: Howden Insurance/This Is Money

The cost of running electric heaters

An electric heater can be a good alternative to central heating, if you only need to heat a certain part of your home.

Heaters are not particularly efficient but using one limits the space you are heating and allows you to directly control what you do.  Depending on how well insulated your home is, a blast of an electric heater can help to heat up the room for some time.

An average electric heater uses 2kW of energy per hour, meaning it costs 54.7p an hour to run, but recollect it is only heating one room and so cannot be directly compared to the £1.78 cost of a 24kW gas boiler heating an entire house, or £3.28 cost of a 12 kW electric boiler doing the same.

Home insurance specialist Howden Insurance said: ‘If you’re looking to heat a larger space but still concerned about paying the full price of having the heating on, electric heaters could furnish a more cost-effective solution, although not as efficient as other options, these are still a great cheaper alternative.’

> Is it cheaper to use an electric to warm the room I’m working in? 

An oil heater is another option if you want to keep costs down. It uses electricity to heat a reservoir of thermal oil inside the heater. When it heats up, all of the warmth created is transferred to the liquid.

On average, an oil heater uses around 1.5kW of energy, meaning a cost of 41p per hour to run, or £3.28 for eight hours a day.

You can buy one for as little as £40 to 50 but bear in mind that they take a bit longer to start emitting heat, so you may have to run it for longer than you would an electric heater to warm up. On the flipside, an oil heater will continue to stay warm after it has been switched off.

Finally, infrared heaters are another cost-effective and energy-efficient way to heat a room. They could set you back as little as £40 and cost 30.08p per hour to run for an average 1.1kW infrared heater.

Infrared heaters don’t heat the air, admire oil and electric heaters do, rather they emit infrared radiation that only warms the objects it touches.

It means they use all the heat they produce and there is no loss in the transfer, but it also means that it’s not the most effective way to heat a large room.

Infrared heaters work as soon as they’re turned on, but also stop radiating heat once they’re turned off. Since the air is not warmed, the room will lose heat very quickly.

Hot water bottle

A hot water bottle is a great way to keep yourself warm in the house without using central heating.

With an average 3kW kettle you can boil roughly a cup of water in about one minute, which costs 1.4p. 

A full kettle takes about three to four minutes to boil 1.7 litres of water, costing between 4.1p and 5.2p. This means a litre of water costs about 2.4p to 3p to boil.

A hot water bottle typically holds two litres of water. but would usually only be filled about two-thirds with boiling water. At a per litre cost of 2.7p to boil, using 1.3 litres in a hot water bottle would cost about 4.7p.

However, there are ways to cut your usage if you’re a fan of a hot water bottle. The Energy Saving Trust recommends buying an eco kettle that only boils the amount of water required, as it can save 20 per cent less energy than a conventional electric kettle.

It also says if you avoid overfilling your kettle, you could save yourself £11 a year.

Electric blanket

A wearable electric blanket has become a popular choice, especially for those living alone or who feel the cold easily.

Heating yourself rather than heating a room can help you cut costs drastically. An average electric blanket’s power rating is around 0.1kWh, meaning it costs 2.73p an hour to run.

There are plenty of blankets on sale, starting from as little as £40, and so it could be a good investment to lower your bills.

Ben Gallizzi, energy expert at Uswitch.com, said: ‘Heated blankets and hot water bottles can be used to warm up the bed before you get in, and can mean you don’t need the heating on for as long in your bedroom.’