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Heating

Electric heating in the UK: the options, and what's available now

For most homes, including older solid-wall properties, a properly designed air source heat pump is the first option to consider. High heat retention storage heaters are the fallback where a heat pump isn't suitable. Heat batteries are promising but not yet widely available, particularly in Scotland.

Andy Hodges · Updated 24 September 2026 · Based on trial data, Energy Saving Trust guidance and scheme rules. I don't run any of these systems myself.

The options side by side

Costs are Energy Saving Trust figures unless stated otherwise. The heat pump efficiency is the median from the Electrification of Heat trial, which measured 742 real homes.

Air source heat pumps

The Electrification of Heat trial is the best real-world evidence available. Across 428 air source heat pumps, the median seasonal efficiency was 2.78, with the middle half of homes between 2.55 and 3.05. That is lower than the 3 to 4 often quoted in brochures, and 91.9% of homes came in below their design figure. It is still nearly three times the output of any direct electric heater.

Older and solid-wall homes

This is particularly relevant for the many older houses in Scotland. The trial found no significant difference in heat pump performance by house type or age, and concluded that the idea that some house types are unsuitable isn't supported by the evidence. MCS says heat pumps do work in less-insulated homes, but run far more efficiently in well-insulated ones. Most trial homes (93%) had at least some new radiators fitted.

The quality of the design matters more than the age of the house. The current MCS design standard (MIS 3005-D, from December 2025) requires installers to aim for a flow temperature of 55°C or lower, size radiators on the worst room, and give you the expected efficiency before you sign.

Is it cheaper to run than gas?

On the price cap, the two are roughly level. The working, using October's cap rates:

• Electricity is 26.32p/kWh. Divided by 2.78, that is about 9.5p per kWh of heat.
• Gas is 7.97p/kWh. Through a boiler at around 90% efficiency (an assumption; older boilers may be lower), that is about 8.9p per kWh of heat.

A heat pump at median efficiency on the standard cap therefore costs slightly more than gas per unit of heat, which matches the Energy Saving Trust's view. Above-median efficiency, or a cheaper electricity rate, reverses that. Home Energy Scotland notes that Economy 7 doesn't always suit heat pumps, because they run for long periods rather than in a single overnight burst.

Grants

• England and Wales: the Boiler Upgrade Scheme gives £7,500 towards an air or ground source heat pump, plus £1,500 until March 2027 for homes on oil or LPG with no mains gas. You have to own the property.
• Scotland: Home Energy Scotland offers a grant of up to £7,500 and an optional interest-free loan of up to £7,500, with £1,500 more in rural and island areas. The heat pump has to provide all your heating and hot water, and it has to be your main home.
• Installed heat pumps are 0% VAT until 31 March 2027.
• Hybrid systems (a heat pump with a boiler) don't qualify for either scheme.

Ground source heat pumps

About £15,000 with trenches, which for a three-bed house means 30 to 40 metres of trench. A borehole is 75 to 200 metres deep and considerably more expensive. The Energy Saving Trust guide puts it at around £57,000, while Home Energy Scotland said up to £34,000 in 2025, so the cost depends heavily on ground conditions. The trial didn't include enough ground source systems to publish results.

High heat retention storage heaters

These charge a clay core on cheaper overnight electricity and release the heat through the day. They need a two-rate tariff, which a smart meter can now provide on a single meter. The limitations are significant: the stored heat can run out, the boost heaters are expensive to run, each unit weighs 150kg or more and needs an electrician to install, and older pre-1974 units may contain asbestos. They cost £900 to £1,400 per room.

In Scotland, Home Energy Scotland will fund up to £8,000 in grant and loan, but only where you can show a heat pump is unsuitable, for example with an MCS installer's assessment or an EPC showing a flat.

Heat batteries and thermal stores

A heat battery stores heat from cheaper electricity and releases it later. It still produces 1 kWh of heat per kWh of electricity, so the only saving comes from buying that electricity at a cheaper time. The Energy Saving Trust states that they aren't specifically designed to save money.

• tepeo ZEB is the whole-house option. It offers 40 kWh usable, 15 kW maximum output and flow temperatures from 35 to 80°C, and needs a time-of-use tariff. It costs £6,000 including VAT, plus installation. tepeo lists Scotland availability as “coming soon”, so it can't yet be installed here.
• Sunamp Thermino provides hot water only, not heating. Sunamp says it is up to four times smaller than an equivalent cylinder and loses less than a quarter of the standing heat. No price is published.

The £2,500 heat battery grant isn't open yet. The Warm Homes Plan (January 2026) says the Boiler Upgrade Scheme will add £2,500 grants for heat batteries, in England and Wales only. As of September 2026 the gov.uk scheme pages and Ofgem's guidance don't list it. The £2,500 tepeo advertises is its own “Early Grant Match”, not government funding. There is no heat battery funding in Scotland.

Panel and infrared heaters

Direct electric panels cost £300 to £500 each and suit small, well-insulated spaces. Infrared panels (350 to 900W) heat surfaces rather than air and work as supplementary heat for a single room. A heat pump would use two to four times less electricity for the same heat. The Energy Saving Trust also flags a condensation and mould risk with infrared.