Heat pump running cost calculator (UK)
Describe your UK home and see your running cost, your saving versus gas, oil or LPG, and payback after the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant. Free, instant, no email, every number sourced.
At the October 2026 price cap a typical 3-bed semi pays about £902 a year on a heat pump (SCOP 3.5) against about £1,171 on gas including the gas standing charge, a saving of about £269. See the SCOP break-even worked.
Your standard rate. The tariff scenario is shown separately.
Efficiency. 3.5 is typical.
On a standard tariff (price cap)
electricity at 26.32p/kWh
£269 /yr saved
Heat pump £902/yr · payback 14 yrs
On a heat pump tariff (~15p/kWh)
cheap-rate electricity
£657 /yr saved
Heat pump £514/yr · payback 5.7 yrs
Heat pump tariffs (Octopus Cosy, EDF, Scottish Power) offered off-peak rates of about 14p to 15p/kWh in June 2026. The ~15p scenario assumes most heating runs in the cheap hours.
- Now: mains gas heating
- £1,171/yr
- Gas standing charge saved
- £108/yr
- Heat pump electricity use
- 3,429 kWh/yr (~286/month)
- Indicative system size
- ~6kW
- Install after grant
- £3,750
- CO₂ saved
- 1,730 kg/yr
If you buy through links on this site we may earn a commission. It never changes the price you pay.
Estimate only. Real figures depend on your home, install and tariff. Prices: Ofgem cap, Oct-Dec 2026.
Outside the UK?The prices and grant here are UK-specific. Tell us where you are and we’ll add it next.
How the numbers work
Your heat demand
How much heat your home needs per year, from your home type or your actual gas kWh.
Current vs heat pump
Current cost = heat / boiler efficiency x fuel price. Heat pump = heat / SCOP x electricity price.
Saving and payback
The yearly difference, then the install cost after the grant divided by that saving.
Running cost by home type
Typical heat pump running cost for a 3-bedroom home (national cap, SCOP 3.5). Open one for every size.
Every home type and size (1 to 5 bed): full running cost table ›
Cheapest places to run a heat pump
Estimated yearly cost for a 3-bed semi, by supply region (Ofgem regional electricity prices), cheapest first.
- 1East Midlands (Nottingham, Leicester)£869/yr
- 2North East (Newcastle)£873/yr
- 3West Midlands (Birmingham)£878/yr
- 4Yorkshire (Leeds, Sheffield)£878/yr
- 5Scotland: south (Glasgow, Edinburgh)£895/yr
- 6Scotland: north (Aberdeen, Highlands)£903/yr
- 7Hampshire & Southern England£908/yr
- 8North West (Manchester)£908/yr
- 9Wales: south (Cardiff, Swansea)£910/yr
- 10South West (Bristol, Devon, Cornwall)£911/yr
- 11London£912/yr
- 12East Anglia & Eastern England£912/yr
- 13South East (Kent, Sussex, Surrey)£922/yr
- 14Merseyside & North Wales (Liverpool)£955/yr
Full league table: all 14 regions with gas prices, savings and CSV ›
Compare with your current fuel
Guides
All guides ›Cheapest and most expensive UK regions to run a heat pump (2026)
Heat pump running costs ranked across all 14 UK price-cap regions for October to December 2026, from the East Midlands (25.36p/kWh) to Merseyside & North Wales (27.86p/kWh).
Do heat pumps actually save money? The SCOP break-even, worked (2026)
A 3-bed semi worked line by line at 2026 Ofgem cap prices: how much a heat pump saves against a gas boiler, the SCOP figure the whole answer turns on, and where the saving really comes from.
How much does a heat pump cost to run in the UK? (2026)
Typical heat pump running costs by home type and bedrooms, per year and per month, what drives the bill, and how to cut it, based on 2026 Ofgem price-cap figures.
Heat pump tariffs UK 2026: Cosy, EDF, Scottish Power and Good Energy compared
Heat pump tariffs compared for UK homes: Octopus Cosy, EDF Heat Pump Tracker, Scottish Power Heat Pump Saver and Good Energy, with cheap rates, cheap windows and rest-of-day rates against the 26.32p October 2026 price cap, and what a 3-bed semi saves.
How much does a heat pump cost to install in 2026
Typical air source installation costs from official scheme data, the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant (£9,000 for oil and LPG homes with no mains gas), what moves quotes up or down, and how long the savings take to pay it back.
Frequently asked questions
Are heat pumps cheaper to run than a gas boiler?
At the Ofgem price cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026 (electricity 26.32p/kWh, gas 7.97p/kWh), a heat pump costs less to run than a 90% efficient gas boiler once its SCOP is above about 3.0. For a typical 3-bed semi at SCOP 3.5 that is about £902 a year against about £1,171 on gas including the gas standing charge. A heat pump tariff widens the gap further.
How much is the heat pump grant in 2026?
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme gives £7,500 off an air source heat pump in England and Wales. Until March 2027 there is an extra £1,500, so £9,000 in total, if your home is heated by oil or LPG and has no mains gas connection. Your installer must be MCS certified and applies for you. Scotland has its own scheme through Home Energy Scotland.
How much electricity does a heat pump use?
Yearly heat demand divided by the heat pump's SCOP. A typical 3-bed semi needing about 12,000 kWh of heat a year uses about 3,429 kWh of electricity at SCOP 3.5, or about 286 kWh a month averaged over the year. Winter months use far more than summer ones. The calculator shows the figure for your home.
What is SCOP and why does it matter?
SCOP is how many units of heat a heat pump makes per unit of electricity over a year. A SCOP of 3.5 means 3.5 kWh of heat per 1 kWh of electricity. The higher the SCOP, the lower the running cost, so it is the single biggest factor in your bill.