Site Prices Update
Last Updated28th June 2022
All calculations on this site are based on current fuel prices, they are checked regularly and calculations are automatically updated.
The costs calculated based on these fuel prices should be regarded as 'good estimates', given that fuel prices vary in different parts of the county and at different time of the year.
The calculations also have different levels of accuracy depending on the nature of the calculation. For example calculating the energy use of a known power output TV is very easy compared to calculating the effect on energy savings when insulating a cavity wall.
Site Calculations
Set Your Own Prices
User PricesFor several of the fuel prices on this site you can now set your own prices and all the calculations on the site will adjust accordingly.
Set Prices
At Confused About Energy we aim to provide practical, impartial advice on all aspects of energy usage, climate change and ways to save money on energy bills.
All calculations on this site are based on current fuel prices they are checked regularly are automatically updated and were last changed on:-
28th June 2022
The costs calculated based on these fuel prices should be regarded as 'good estimates', given that fuel prices vary in different parts of the county and at different time of the year.
The calculations also have different levels of accuracy depending on the nature of the calculation. For example calculating the energy use of a known power output TV is very easy compared to calculating the effect on energy savings when insulating a cavity wall.
Site Calculations
| Electricity | £0.271 per unit (1 kWh) |
| Economy Electricity | £0.094 per unit (1 kWh) |
| Gas | £0.072 per unit (1 kWh) |
| Domestic LPG | £0.122 per unit (1 kWh) |
| Heating Oil | £0.104 per unit (1 kWh) |
| UK Grid CO2 Emissions | 0.233 kg per kWh used |
The main units used in this site are in the table below, For a complete explanation of power and energy Read More.
| Unit | Name | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| W | Watt | Unit of Power |
| kW | Kilowatt | 1000 watts |
| kWh | Kilowatt hour | Measure of Energy |
| L | Litre | Measure of Volume |
Please use twitter to ask a question Message @@EnergyThinking
Extracted Energy from Fuel
For combustible fuels the fuel prices on the home page of this site and in the fuels page indicate the price per kWh of the fuels if burned at close to 100% efficiency. They indicate the maximum extractable, 'locked up', chemical energy within the fuels. No equipment (boiler or fire) burns the fuel with 100% efficiency. So the actual cost per kWh is always higher. This is indicated on many of the pages on this site, showing for example the difference between a modern boiler and an old inefficient boiler.
The table below presents all the main combustible fuels in the UK their 100% price per kWh and efficiencies down to 10%. The shaded areas of the table give some typical examples of equipment and their efficiencies. It is worth taking note of this in for example a decision to replace an old boiler, long term it may be more cost effective than you think.
| Fuel Type | Effective price (pence) per
kWh of delivered energy taking into account the efficiency of the unit burning the fuel. Prices last updated 28th June 2022 |
||||||||||||
| 100% |
95% |
90% |
85% |
80% |
75% |
70% |
60% |
50% |
40% |
30% |
20% |
10% |
|
| Gas |
7.2 | 7.6 | 8 | 8.5 | 9 | 9.6 | 10.3 | 12 | 14.4 | 18 | 24 | 36 | 72 |
| Heating Oil (Kerosene) |
10.4 | 10.9 | 11.6 | 12.2 | 13 | 13.9 | 14.9 | 17.3 | 20.8 | 26 | 34.7 | 52 | 104 |
| Bulk LPG |
12.2 | 12.8 | 13.6 | 14.4 | 15.3 | 16.3 | 17.4 | 20.3 | 24.4 | 30.5 | 40.7 | 61 | 122 |
| Typical fully condensing modern boiler | Typical of an older inefficient boiler | ||||||||||||
| Wood Chip |
5 | 5.3 | 5.6 | 5.9 | 6.3 | 6.7 | 7.1 | 8.3 | 10 | 12.5 | 16.7 | 25 | 50 |
| Wood Pellet |
9.4 | 9.9 | 10.4 | 11.1 | 11.8 | 12.5 | 13.4 | 15.7 | 18.8 | 23.5 | 31.3 | 47 | 94 |
| Wood Log |
8.3 | 8.7 | 9.2 | 9.8 | 10.4 | 11.1 | 11.9 | 13.8 | 16.6 | 20.8 | 27.7 | 41.5 | 83 |
| Coal |
5 | 5.3 | 5.6 | 5.9 | 6.3 | 6.7 | 7.1 | 8.3 | 10 | 12.5 | 16.7 | 25 | 50 |
| Smokeless Coal |
9.1 | 9.6 | 10.1 | 10.7 | 11.4 | 12.1 | 13 | 15.2 | 18.2 | 22.8 | 30.3 | 45.5 | 91 |
| Typical modern stove | Typical open Fire | ||||||||||||
| Butane 4.5kg cylinder |
30 | 31.6 | 33.3 | 35.3 | 37.5 | 40 | 42.9 | 50 | 60 | 75 | 100 | 150 | 300 |
| Butane 7kg cylinder |
26.1 | 27.5 | 29 | 30.7 | 32.6 | 34.8 | 37.3 | 43.5 | 52.2 | 65.3 | 87 | 130.5 | 261 |
| Butane 15kg cylinder |
20.9 | 22 | 23.2 | 24.6 | 26.1 | 27.9 | 29.9 | 34.8 | 41.8 | 52.3 | 69.7 | 104.5 | 209 |
| Propane 3.9kg cylinder |
29.5 | 31.1 | 32.8 | 34.7 | 36.9 | 39.3 | 42.1 | 49.2 | 59 | 73.8 | 98.3 | 147.5 | 295 |
| Propane 6 kg cylinder |
26.4 | 27.8 | 29.3 | 31.1 | 33 | 35.2 | 37.7 | 44 | 52.8 | 66 | 88 | 132 | 264 |
| Propane 13kg cylinder |
22.1 | 23.3 | 24.6 | 26 | 27.6 | 29.5 | 31.6 | 36.8 | 44.2 | 55.3 | 73.7 | 110.5 | 221 |
| Propane 19kg cylinder |
20.1 | 21.2 | 22.3 | 23.6 | 25.1 | 26.8 | 28.7 | 33.5 | 40.2 | 50.3 | 67 | 100.5 | 201 |
| Propane 47kg cylinder |
17.9 | 18.8 | 19.9 | 21.1 | 22.4 | 23.9 | 25.6 | 29.8 | 35.8 | 44.8 | 59.7 | 89.5 | 179 |
Of the many questions from users of this site, the most common one is simply why are my bills so expensive and the questions often come from people in rented accommodation. The reasons in this type of accommodation are often the same, lack of investment in insulation and modern boilers by landlords. The table clearly shows the effect installing modern equipment on your energy bills, but how do you persuade the landlord!
The inefficiency of open fires was a great surprise to me when I first investigated this 5 years ago. It is well worth considering a modern stove as an alternative if you can afford the installation cost.
Price Trends
The below graphs gives the price trend for a unit (kWh) of Gas and Electricity from 2007. The data is from official UK government sources and is a Great Britain average. As you can see the price has gone up a lot in just 6 years with no sign of slowing down.
Hi,
Could you please tell me whether many households would use gas/oil boilers of less than 50% efficiency? Do you have an estimate of the average boiler efficiency for the UK?
Also, there seems to be a large variance in efficiency of open fires. Do many open fires actually reduce to as little as 20% efficient?
Thank you
Sorry Katy
I missed this question, they can get buried under a metaphorical pile of e-mails.
I'm afraid I do not have that info. Have you looked at the UK Gov Websites do you have their documents. I would guess that very few are that bad anymore, most would have moved on to new boilers by now.
The old EAGA partnership would have know that, I think they are closed down now.
Open fires, coal wood etc, are very inefficient, most of the heat going up the chimney. Stoves are much more efficient, but much more expensive.
Cheers
Richard
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/quarterly-energy-prices-june-2014
Comments and Questions