Every fresh set of energy bills brings the same question back into a homeowner’s inbox: is it finally worth switching that draughty box room, garden office or extension off the gas system and onto electric heating instead? For most of the house, gas is still cheaper to run. In a handful of specific rooms, it genuinely isn’t.
Electric heating cost in the UK comes down to one trade-off: electricity is more expensive per unit than gas, but for a small, well-insulated or occasionally used space, avoiding the cost and disruption of extending your central heating system can still work out cheaper overall. Get the room type wrong, though, and you’ll be paying a premium every winter for no good reason.
Why electric heating costs more per unit than gas
Electricity has consistently cost several times more than gas per kilowatt hour under the Ofgem price cap, which is why “electric heating is expensive” has become received wisdom among UK homeowners. That gap is real, and it means running electric heating as your only source of warmth across a whole three-bed semi will almost always cost more than a modern gas boiler doing the same job.
What that headline ratio misses is efficiency at the point of use. A gas boiler loses some heat up the flue and through pipework serving rooms you’re not using. A single infrared panel or electric radiator converts nearly all of its electricity straight into heat, right where you need it, with no distribution loss and no need to warm the whole system to heat one room.
Infrared vs standard electric heaters
Infrared panels heat objects and people directly, similar to how sunlight warms your skin even on a cold day, rather than heating the air first. That makes them feel warm faster in a room with the door held open, and they don’t rely on air circulation the way a fan heater or oil-filled radiator does. Standard electric radiators and panel heaters are cheaper to buy and heat the room’s air more evenly, which suits a space you sit in for hours rather than pass through.
Where infrared and electric heating genuinely beat gas
Occasional-use rooms and outbuildings
A garden office, home gym, workshop or box room used for a few hours a day is the clearest case. Extending gas central heating pipework into a converted garage or outbuilding can run into thousands of pounds in groundworks and disruption, plus an annual service cost on top. A single infrared panel with a plug-in timer costs a fraction of that to install and only draws power while the room is actually in use — unlike a central system, which has to keep the whole loop warm enough to serve it.
Well-insulated extensions and loft conversions
A modern, well-insulated loft conversion or small extension loses heat slowly enough that a couple of electric panels can keep it comfortable without a large running cost, particularly if it’s used mainly in the evenings. The same room in an uninsulated Victorian house would need far more power to stay warm, which tips the calculation back towards gas.
Homes with no mains gas connection
For rural and off-grid properties already paying for bottled gas, oil or LPG, electric or infrared heating in specific rooms can be genuinely competitive rather than a compromise, especially alongside a well-priced electricity tariff or solar panels.
Where gas central heating still wins
Here’s the opinion worth having before you buy a stack of panels: heating an entire, poorly insulated UK home on electric resistance heating alone is usually the wrong call, and no amount of clever panel placement changes that. If your whole house needs heating for most of the day through a UK winter, a modern condensing gas boiler paired with proper insulation and room thermostats will almost always beat electric on running cost, even with the efficiency advantages of infrared. Electric heating earns its keep room by room, not house by house.
Solid-wall period properties, homes with poor loft or cavity insulation, and any house where the whole family is in and out of most rooms all day are poor candidates for a full electric switch. In those cases, money is better spent improving the EPC rating first — loft insulation, draught-proofing, better glazing — before touching the heating system at all.
What electric and infrared heating actually cost to run
A typical 1.5kW infrared panel running for three hours a day through a UK winter will use roughly the same electricity as a kettle boiled repeatedly for that period. The maths only works in your favour when you’re heating a genuinely small, occasionally used space rather than trying to replace a whole central heating zone.
Two things change the sum significantly: a time-of-use electricity tariff that’s cheaper overnight or off-peak, and solar panels with a battery, which can bring the effective cost of daytime electric heating down close to, or below, gas.
Making the switch without wasting money
Before installing anything, check your consumer unit has spare capacity and that any new circuit is fitted by a NICEIC or NAPIT-registered electrician and signed off under Part P — this isn’t a job for a plug-in extension lead and a drill. Get the wattage right for the room size rather than over-specifying “to be safe”, since an oversized panel just costs more to run for no extra comfort. If you’re not sure whether a room suits electric or gas, an Accredited Domestic Energy Assessor can talk through the numbers for your specific property alongside your EPC.
What to do in the next 30 minutes
Note which rooms in your home are heated by gas but used for only a few hours a day.
Check your latest energy bill for your actual unit rates for gas and electricity, not a rough estimate.
Look up whether your outbuilding, garage or extension is already on a separate electrical circuit with spare capacity.
If you’re considering an outbuilding conversion, get a quote for extending the gas system before assuming electric is cheaper — the answer isn’t always obvious.
Photograph your current heating setup and note today’s meter reading, so you’ve got a genuine before-and-after if you do switch a room over.
Log your heating setup and any EPC recommendations in Home+, so when you’re weighing up a room-by-room electric switch, you’ve got your actual usage and costs to hand rather than a guess.
Compare running costs in Home+ before you commit to a panel, a new radiator, or a bigger job — it only takes a few minutes and it’s free.
FAQ
Is infrared heating cheaper than gas central heating in the UK? Not usually for a whole house. Electricity costs more per unit than gas, so infrared only comes out cheaper for specific rooms — occasional-use spaces, well-insulated extensions, or outbuildings where extending gas pipework would be expensive.
How much does it cost to run an infrared panel for a few hours a day? It depends on the panel’s wattage, the room’s insulation, and your electricity unit rate. As a rule of thumb, a well-sized panel in a small, well-insulated room used for a few hours a day is far cheaper than heating the whole house to warm that one room.
Do infrared panels affect my EPC rating? They can, since EPC assessments account for the heating system’s efficiency and fuel type. A DEA can tell you how a specific installation would affect your rating.
Can I use infrared heating as my only source of heat in a room? Yes, in a well-insulated, appropriately sized room. It struggles in a draughty or poorly insulated space, where the constant heat loss outpaces what the panel can put back.
Does solar power change the sums? Considerably. If you’re generating and storing your own electricity, running electric or infrared heating during daylight hours can bring the effective cost close to, or below, gas, particularly for occasional-use rooms.
Who should install electric heating in my home? Any new circuit should be fitted by a NICEIC or NAPIT-registered electrician and comply with Part P of the Building Regulations. A straightforward plug-in panel on an existing socket doesn’t need an electrician, but a hardwired panel or a new dedicated circuit does.
