If your home is on the gas grid, heating with gas is almost always cheaper to run than heating with electricity, and it is not close. The reason is simple: a unit of gas costs roughly a quarter of a unit of electricity. That single fact settles most of the argument before efficiency or comfort even come into it. There are real exceptions, and one electric option that turns the sum on its head, but for a straight comparison of a gas boiler against a plug-in or panel electric heater, gas wins on cost for the vast majority of homes.
The short answer. Gas costs about 7p per kWh in mid 2026; standard electricity about 26p. A gas boiler is around 90 per cent efficient, so a unit of useful heat costs roughly 8p. A direct electric heater is nearly 100 per cent efficient, but its heat still costs about 26p a unit. That makes electric heating roughly three times dearer to run than gas for the same warmth. The exception is a heat pump, which delivers three to four units of heat per unit of electricity and can undercut gas.
Why gas is cheaper: it is the fuel price
The whole comparison rests on the price of a kilowatt hour of each fuel. Under the Ofgem price cap for July to September 2026, gas costs around 7p per kWh and electricity around 26p. That is close to a four-to-one gap, and it exists because electricity is a more valuable, harder-to-produce form of energy, much of it still generated by burning gas in the first place. People often assume electric heating must be cheaper because it feels modern and it wastes nothing, but the fuel price gap swamps any efficiency advantage. You are simply paying far more for each unit of energy you put into the room.
Efficiency: where the fuels differ, and where it does not save you
Efficiency is the one place electric heating genuinely wins, and it still is not enough. A direct electric heater, whether a fan heater, an oil-filled radiator or a panel on the wall, turns very nearly 100 per cent of the electricity into heat in the room. A modern condensing gas boiler is around 90 per cent efficient, losing a little warmth up the flue, as the condensing boiler guide explains. So gas loses a slice that electric does not. But 90 per cent of a 7p unit is a much cheaper unit of heat than 100 per cent of a 26p one. Perfect efficiency on expensive fuel still loses to good efficiency on cheap fuel.
| Heating type | Fuel cost per kWh | Efficiency | Cost per kWh of heat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gas boiler | ~7p | ~90% | ~8p |
| Direct electric heater | ~26p | ~100% | ~26p |
| Storage heater on Economy 7 | ~13p to 15p (night) | ~100% | ~13p to 15p |
| Heat pump (SCOP 3.5) | ~26p | ~350% | ~7p to 8p |
Illustrative figures at the Ofgem cap for July to September 2026. Cost per unit of heat is fuel price divided by efficiency; the heat pump multiplies each electric unit into several units of heat.
What that means over a year
Put it into a whole heating season and the gap is stark. A typical home might need somewhere around 12,000 kWh of heat a year. Delivered by a gas boiler at roughly 8p a unit of heat, that is on the order of £960 a year for the heat itself. The same heat from direct electric heaters at 26p a unit would run to around £3,100. The exact numbers depend on how draughty the house is and how warm you keep it, but the ratio holds: direct electric heating typically costs around three times what gas does for the same comfort. That is a difference measured in thousands of pounds over a few winters, which is why swapping a working gas boiler for panel heaters to save money almost never adds up.
When electric heating still makes sense
None of this means electric heating is always the wrong choice. It wins in several real situations. If a home has no gas connection, the comparison is not gas against electric but electric against oil, oil or bottled gas, and the sums change. For a single room used occasionally, a small electric heater avoids firing up a whole boiler and warming pipework you do not need, so heating one room can be cheaper in practice; the one room or whole house guide covers exactly when. Electric heating also has no boiler to service, no flue and low install cost, which suits a rarely used room or a rental. And on an Economy 7 tariff, a storage heater charging on cheap overnight units narrows the gap considerably, though it needs the right home and habits to pay off.
The heat pump exception
There is one electric heating system that beats gas on running cost, and it is the reason the whole picture is shifting: the heat pump. Instead of turning electricity straight into heat, it uses that electricity to move heat in from the outside air or ground, delivering three to four units of warmth for every unit of electricity it draws. That multiplier, its SCOP, brings the cost of a unit of heat down to roughly 7p to 8p, level with or below gas, despite running on the dearer fuel. Whether it comes out ahead depends on the SCOP the system actually achieves and on your tariff, which is set out in heat pump running cost and the direct comparison with a gas boiler. A heat pump is the only electric option that competes with gas on the bill; every plug-in heater does not.
The bottom line
For a home on the gas grid choosing between a gas boiler and direct electric heaters, gas is clearly cheaper to run, by roughly three to one, because a unit of gas costs about a quarter of a unit of electricity and no amount of electric efficiency closes that gap. Electric heating earns its place off the gas grid, in single occasionally used rooms, and on cheap overnight tariffs, but as a whole-home replacement for working gas it costs far more. The one electric system that genuinely competes is the heat pump, which multiplies each unit of electricity into several units of heat. To put your own numbers in, the gas vs electric heating calculator compares the two directly.
Common questions
Is gas or electric heating cheaper to run?
Gas is cheaper for most homes. A unit of gas costs about 7p against about 26p for electricity in mid 2026, so even though a gas boiler wastes a little heat up the flue, gas heating costs roughly a third of what direct electric heating does for the same warmth.
Why is electric heating so expensive?
Because electricity costs about four times as much as gas per kWh. A direct electric heater is nearly 100 per cent efficient, but it still turns expensive units into heat, so the running cost is far higher than a gas boiler burning cheap gas units.
When is electric heating worth it?
When a home has no gas connection, for a single room used occasionally rather than firing up the whole boiler, in rentals where a low install cost matters, or on an Economy 7 tariff with storage heaters charging on cheap overnight electricity.
Is a heat pump cheaper to run than gas?
It can be. A heat pump delivers three to four units of heat per unit of electricity, bringing the cost of a unit of heat down to around 7p to 8p, level with or below gas, despite running on the dearer fuel. The result depends on the system's efficiency and your tariff.