Electric Heating VS Gas Heating what is cheapest?

In the United Kingdom, assuming that you have a GAS and ELECTRICAL supply to your property. It is generally MUCH cheaper to heat your home using GAS than electricity! 

1) Cost of Electricity

According to OFGEM (https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/information-consumers/energy-advice-households/energy-price-cap-explained) in the early part of 2026 (at the time of writing) the energy price cap is at 27.69p per KWh of Electricity. Electric bills only go one way - UP! 

The average 3 bedroom home requires around 8kw of heating to stay warm. Gas boilers are often sized much larger than this to allow for hot water production as well. If you have an electric heating system will not only need electric heating in each room but also a tank for hot water. 

2) Cost of Gas

Gas prices in the UK in the early part of 2026 are capped at 5.93p per KWh. This is roughly 6 times less than electricity per KWh. Whilst boilers are much more powerful than equivalent electrical heating and hot water equipment they do not use their full power constantly. 

3) Electric Heating Systems and Maximum Demand

Our UK homes have a "single phase" supply from the electricity grid. This means that there is a single LINE conductor entering our property along with a Neutral conductor. The maximum power that can be safely used on a single phase supply is 23KW, This would mean a 100 amp fuse needed to be installed in the mains equipment yet not every home has a 100 amp main fuse installed. The electricity grid needs to calculate the MAXIMUM DEMAND for each home when installing their electrical equipment, substations and transformers.  They use their calculations to determine the maximum allowable fuse size in our homes. Were a home has a 60amp fuse installed, it is often difficult to have an ALL ELECTRIC heating system installed along as demands can be too high. 

4) What is cheapest when it comes to heating?

GAS is CHEAPER. Hands down in most cases! 

5) Is Electricity Cleaner Heating?

Once the energy is being used in your home, there is no real difference in the cleanliness of the heating regardless of gas or electrical heating. How the electricity is generated at source and how the gas is sourced will determine the environmental impact of each fuel source. 

6) Conclusion

In the UK in 2026, all other things being equal, Gas is the more cost effective way of heating your home. This assumes a modern condensing boiler is installed and service to work at optimum performance of course. Electric heating has its place such as in homes where gas is not available for instance but in terms of costs, GAS is far cheaper when heating your home.