The number of methods to provide heating to your accommodations is enormous. This article compares the potential running costs of various methods of heating. It excludes larger heating systems, like central heating, groundsource heating or airsource heating as these are very different and require large capital expenditure to install. These are considered in a separate article.
To get a meaningful comparison, the same power output and hence the same energy use is used in each case (efficiency is ignored). The calculations are based on each heater having a power output of 3kW, and operating for 5 hours a day for about one third of a year. 3kW was chosen since this is the maximum power output of an electrical heater on a single ring main plug socket and since all the other appliances can out put the same heat power. All appliances are also assumed to be non thermostatically controlled, i.e no maximum room temperature has been set. The rate of heat loss from a room is also not considered here.
| Heater (All 3kW) |
Efficiency | Estimated Running cost per hour |
Running cost per 5 hour period (no thermostat) | Running cost per year 5 hours a day for one third of the year | Indicitive Purchase Price | Indicitive installation Price | Notes |
| Electric Bar Heater | 100 % | 40 pence | £ 2.01 | £ 205 | £ 40 | £ 0 |
Electric heaters are usually 1,2 and 3kW, 3kW is the maximum you can have on a UK ring main.
|
| Electric Fan Heater | 100 % | 40 pence | £ 2.01 | £ 205 | £ 20 | £ 0 | |
| Electric Oil Filled Radiator | 100 % | 40 pence | £ 2.01 | £ 205 | £ 80 | £ 0 | |
| Electric Convection Heater | 100 % | 40 pence | £ 2.01 | £ 205 | £ 40 | £ 0 | |
| Single Electric Storage Heater | 80 % | 17 pence | £ 0.84 | £ 86 | £ 350 | £ 250 | There are efficiency issues with storage heaters, they heat at night and output in the day and you may not want the heat, so you may waste it. |
| Gas Fire Flued | 50 % | 23 pence | £ 1.14 | £ 116 | £ 500 | £ 300 | Much of the heat from flued gas fires goes up the chimmey and their efficiency is therefore poor about 50%, and some suggest efficiency is even lower |
| Gas Fire Flueless | 95 % | 12 pence | £ 0.6 | £ 61 | £ 500 | £ 300 | Flueless fires use cataltic converters and do not rely on a chimney to vent nasty gases, they are therefore much less wastefull |
| Gas Wall Heater | 90 % | 13 pence | £ 0.63 | £ 65 | £ 350 | £ 300 | |
| Bottled Gas Fire | 75 % | 55 pence | £ 2.74 | £ 279 | £ 80 | £ 0 | A 15kg Bottle of butane is assumed for this calculation. |
| Wood Burning Open Fire | 20 % | 135 pence | £ 6.75 | £ 689 | £ 600 | £ 600 | Only wood log costs are used to calculate prices here. |
| Coal Burning Open Fire | 20 % | 48 pence | £ 2.4 | £ 245 | £ 600 | £ 600 | |
| Smokeless Coal Open Fire | 20 % | 101 pence | £ 5.03 | £ 513 | £ 600 | £ 600 | |
| Wood Burning Closed Fire | 70 % | 39 pence | £ 1.93 | £ 197 | £ 800 | £ 1000 | If you are burning your scrap wood the costs are zero! |
| Coal Burning Closed Fire | 70 % | 14 pence | £ 0.69 | £ 70 | £ 800 | £ 1000 | |
| Smokeless Coal Closed Fire | 70 % | 29 pence | £ 1.44 | £ 146 | £ 800 | £ 1000 |
The second table combines the fuel costs over an extended period of time with installation and purchase price of the unit you buy, to help with long term decisions, the numbers are based again on each heater having a power output of 3kW, and operating for 5 hours a day for about one third of a year.
| Heater (All 3kW) | Total Running Costs, Purchase Costs and Installation Costs | Notes | |||
| 1 Year | 5 Year | 10 Year | 15 year | ||
| Electric Bar Heater | £ 285 | £ 1266 | £ 2492 | £ 3718 | |
| Electric Fan Heater | £ 265 | £ 1246 | £ 2472 | £ 3698 | |
| Electric Oil filled Radiator | £ 325 | £ 1306 | £ 2532 | £ 3758 | |
| Electric Convection Heater | £ 285 | £ 1266 | £ 2492 | £ 3718 | |
| Single Electric Storage Heater | £ 703 | £ 1115 | £ 1629 | £ 2144 | |
| Gas Fire Flued | £ 939 | £ 1495 | £ 2191 | £ 2886 | |
| Gas Fire Flueless | £ 873 | £ 1166 | £ 1532 | £ 1898 | |
| Gas Wall Heater | £ 727 | £ 1036 | £ 1423 | £ 1809 | |
| Bottled Gas Fire | £ 414 | £ 1751 | £ 3423 | £ 5094 | |
| Wood Burning Open Fire | £ 2024 | £ 5318 | £ 9435 | £ 13553 | |
| Coal Burning Open Fire | £ 1493 | £ 2664 | £ 4128 | £ 5592 | |
| Smokeless Coal Open Fire | £ 1813 | £ 4265 | £ 7331 | £ 10396 | |
| Wood Burning Closed Fire | £ 2035 | £ 2976 | £ 4153 | £ 5329 | |
| Coal Burning Closed Fire | £ 1884 | £ 2218 | £ 2637 | £ 3055 | |
| Smokeless Coal Closed Fire | £ 1975 | £ 2676 | £ 3552 | £ 4427 | |
Heating rooms electrically at the standard rate is as expensive as you would expect, what is perhaps surprising is the cost of open fires. These are very inefficient because so much of the heat energy from the fuel you burn ends up going straight up the chimney or into the wall. The most economic bottle gas fire option cost quite a lot more than an electric bar heater, but they are very cheap to buy. On pure cost grounds the most economic running cost are with a
- Storage heater
- Flueless gas fire
- Gas wall heater
- Coal burning closed fire or stove
However with all of these option unless you already have them installed there is a relatively high installation cost, however long term they pay back this cost.
Wood is horribly expensive to burn as is smokeless coal particularly in open fires if you are going to burn fuels like this it is far more cost effective to use a closed system like a small stove.
Long term flueless fires and gas wall heaters seem like a good cost effective way to heat your home.
