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How much energy practice y'all use to heat your home, and what's the price?

20 October 2022 | Stephen Marcus

Most energy gets used on heating in a typical household. In fact, for the average Great britain household, heating is responsible for over one-half of each month's energy bills¹.

In this guide, we cover how to measure the free energy used to heat your habitation, how much heating is costing, and how to make changes that tin assistance cutting energy use.

Measuring the energy used to oestrus your home: how many kWh you need to oestrus a business firm

So how much does a typical home employ? And how do we measure information technology? We use kilowatt hours (kWh) as a standard measurement– with 1 kWh measuring the free energy used to keep a 1,000 watt appliance running for an 60 minutes.

Whether you apply natural gas, fuel oil, electricity, or something else, information technology's best to mensurate the free energy used to oestrus your abode in kWhs.

For more help getting your head effectually kWhs, and how they work, check out our guide to agreement kW and kWh.

How to calculate the energy you use for heating

Most households volition use the same fuel for heating equally for other things. For case, y'all'll likely utilise gas for both heating and hot h2o. That means we need a way of working out what percentage is used for central heating, and how much is used for other things, like hot water. Here's an instance:

Let's say a home only uses electricity, and over a year it uses 16,000 kWh for everything – including lighting, appliances, cooking, hot water and heating
If nosotros know that over the 6 months when the home isn't heated, it uses 3,000 kWh, we tin can presume that roughly the same amount is used over the wintertime months for everything except central heating
And so over a year, 6,000 kWh is used on everything but heating, and the remaining ten,000 kWhs are used on heating alone

How to catechumen your energy utilisation into kWh

Depending where you alive, and the type of fuel you use, you lot might be calculating your energy use in one of many different units. Just similar with measuring water in litres or pints, there are lots of different ways to measure energy.

As we explained higher up, information technology's helpful to convert your energy use into kWh. Notice the unit of measurement your free energy utilize is measured in – whether that'southward therms or gigajoules – and multiply it past these numbers:

For therms – multiply past 29.three
For tons of oil equivalent – multiply by 11,630
For gigajoule – multiply past 278
For kilocalorie – multiply by 0.00116

So now you lot should be able to learn how much of your free energy neb goes on primal heating! And now that you've converted it to kWh, you lot tin encounter how your energy use compares.

Bear in heed that sure other factors can touch the amount of energy needed to heat your home. The size of your home, the local climate, the temperature of your thermostat, the heating system, and how your home is built all play a role.

How much does it price to oestrus a firm? Fundamental heating costs per 60 minutes

It can be a little tricky, but here'south how to piece of work out how much your heating is costing:

First, work out how many kWhs of energy you use on heating per year. Follow the steps higher up to come across how to do this.
Your energy tariff is fabricated upwardly of 2 rates. The first is the standing accuse, which is charged each day, no matter how much (or little) energy you apply. The 2d is the unit charge per unit – which is how much yous're charged for the energy yous actually use.
It'southward merely the unit rate that'due south needed to piece of work out how much your heating is costing each year. (It'southward calculated in kWh).

Gas primal heating cost per hour and per year in the UK

Unfortunately, it'south not currently possible to work out exactly how much gas heating costs hour past hr – as it tin can't easily be separated out from your total household gas use.

But as we've described above, you can isolate the free energy you utilise for heating – which means yous can still piece of work out how much information technology costs each year:

Let's say you lot have a gas boiler, and use 10,000 kWh of energy on heating per year. Your unit rate is 3.8p.
10,000 multiplied past 0.038 is 380 – and so £380 is how much your heating has cost you across the year.

Electric central heating cost per 60 minutes and per year in the UK

Likewise, if y'all accept an electrical banality, it's not possible to split up the cost of your heating hour by hour from the other things you use electricity for.

But you tin still piece of work out how much energy yous use for heating across the year, so yous can see how much it costs:

Let'south say you have an electric boiler, and utilise x,000 kWh of energy on heating per yr and your unit rate is 19p.
10,000 multiplied by 0.19 is 1,900 – which means heating cost £ane,900 across the year.

Average cost of heating a dwelling house in the UK

The typical cost of heating a home in the UK in 2022 was £453.242. To requite this some context, the average Britain free energy nib in the same yr was around £ane,184 per year^three – although this cost has risen significantly in contempo years.

Energy consumption by state: comparing the energy used to estrus your home to European standards

Offset, permit's expect at how the energy used in your home compares to the rest of the Britain. Then we'll compare that to some of our European neighbours. Let's say you've calculated that your dwelling uses 10,000 kWh a year on heating. Compare this effigy to those in the chart below, to see how this looks confronting averages for European countries. Each number shows the average heating used per household each year.

As you might expect, a country's climate plays a fundamental part. For countries with common cold winters – similar Denmark – 10,000 kWh is quite a depression effigy. But in a warmer country like Kingdom of spain, it's on the higher end of the scale.

Heating energy (kWh) per square metre: how much gas and electricity do you employ per floor area?

Another thing to consider is the size of your abode. This is something the figures higher up don't account for – and it's helpful to factor in how much free energy you apply on heating, in relation to the size of your home.

This tin can be taken into account by measuring free energy use in relation to floorspace. Hither's an example of how this works:

Allow'southward say your home uses 10,000 kWh of energy per twelvemonth on heating, and information technology has a floor area of 100m2

To work out your energy utilisation per floor area, yous merely separate the energy utilise by the floor area – in this instance, that means dividing 10,000 by 100
This gives you a effigy of 100kWh/(m2a) – with the "a" significant "per annum" (or each yr)

The chart beneath shows how those same European countries shape upward when it comes to boilerplate heating utilize, relative to floorspace.

As you can run across, this gives u.s.a. a quite different picture. When information technology comes to heating per square metre, we're not far above Greece or Italy – which is interesting to note, given the warmer weather they enjoy through much of the yr.

Estimating how much energy you use to heat your dwelling house per unit of floor area is really useful, because it lets you compare the usage in your dwelling house to other benchmarks. The most famous of these is perhaps the Passive House (Passivhaus) standard, which limits energy used for heating to only 15 kWh/(m2a).

4 low-carbon heating alternatives

1. Air source heat pumps

Did yous know air can be used to keep homes warm? Heat pumps absorb heat from the air exterior, and use it for heating and hot water. They even work in winter.

Air-source heat pumps are a greener alternative to regular central heating. They make use of air – a limitless natural source that tin't be used upwardly. And they can exist run on 100% renewable electricity. The total cost of buying and installing a heat pump ranges from £7,000 to £13,000.

Read our guide to notice out everything you demand to know almost air source heat pumps and how they work

2. Ground source heat pumps

Ground source oestrus pumps, like their air source relatives, are an alternative to a traditional boiler, cartoon oestrus from the surrounding environment. And just like their relatives, they're another brilliant fashion of generating renewable warmth for dwelling.

They work through a network of pipes buried underground, near the house, where a mixture of water and antifreeze is circulated around a loop of pipe. Heat from the footing is captivated into the fluid, which is then passed into a heat exchanger in the pump.

There's a very loftier upfront cost here too, with the cost of buying and installing ranging from £11,000 to £18,000.

Want to know more than? Our quick and easy guide gives you all the details on ground source rut pumps

3. Solar thermal panels

While you lot might have heard of solar panels, you may not have heard of solar thermal panels. They're a type of solar panel especially intended for turning sunlight into heat.

Merely rather than converting the oestrus from the lord's day into electricity, they utilize it to directly heat water. And in fact, they're more than energy-efficient than traditional solar panels. This is because heat waves carry more free energy than sunlight, and there's no transformation process needed to plow that free energy into electricity.

Check out our in-depth guide to larn more nearly the best low-carbon heating options

4. Storage heaters

If you utilize storage heaters in your home, it could exist worth investing in newer ones if you're able to. Compared to older models, new storage heaters are much more than free energy-efficient – updating them could exist a adept mode to relieve energy, while lowering energy costs.

Powered by electricity, they charge overnight, using off-tiptop (i.due east. cheaper) energy, which tin then be used during the post-obit day. This is especially important to note if you're on a time-of-use electricity tariff, such as Economy 7, which ways you pay a lower rate for free energy used overnight (usually 12pm-7am).

Interested to find out more about storage heaters? We've put together a practical guide to explain how storage heaters work, and their costs and benefits.

Saving free energy and using it more efficiently for heating

There are 4 key things to bear in mind, to help make your heating more efficient:

Banality settings – the temperature you gear up your banality to is the temperature at which it heats water – and you lot'll want the temperature to be no higher than you need. For your heating, the ideal temperature setting is around 70C. And for your hot water, it'south 60C.
Thermostat settings – a common mistake is setting the thermostat college in the hope that it'll make the heating warm upward faster. Instead, gear up it to the temperature you lot want. The thermostat measures the temperature of the room, and in one case that temperature has been reached, the boiler stops sending hot water to the radiators.
Thermostatic radiator valves – these let yous to adjust the temperature of individual radiators, which ways you lot can set up the best temperature to conform dissimilar rooms.
Insulation – If you're able to, ane of the best ways to brand your heating more than energy-efficient is past improving your home's insulation. If your habitation isn't insulated, estrus tin can escape – which means more energy is needed to warm it back up. From roof and loft insulation to crenel wall insulation, there are lots of dissimilar options for insulating your abode.

Looking into loft or wall insulation for your home? You might exist able to get help to pay for these improvements, every bit part of government initiatives. Check out our guide to heating and energy grants.

If y'all're worried about heating costs or you lot're struggling financially, please make it touch with us – nosotros're here to support you .

Frequently asked questions most saving energy in winter

This depends on what blazon of heating arrangement you accept. If yous have a gas, oil or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) system, we'd recommend using a timer so information technology's only on when you demand it.

If you lot use an electrical immersion heater, it could be worth heating your water during the night. Peculiarly if you lot have a time-of-use tariff such every bit Economy 7, where free energy is cheaper at nighttime.

Read our guide to Economy 7 tariffs and meters, and how information technology all works.

Smart meters can help y'all save energy, equally they show your energy use in existent time – which makes it easier to spot ways to save on costs likewise. They won't guarantee savings only we practice think they're really helpful.

If you'd like one, you lot can get a smart meter installed free with OVO – book a smart meter installation hither.

Using radiator valves to conform the temperature of private radiators means you can turn off radiators completely when rooms are empty, and you have more command over the temperature of rooms that are naturally warmer or colder. Basically, radiator valves will assistance finish energy beingness used where it'south not needed.\ \ Issues with your radiators? Encounter our guide on how to bleed a radiator in vii easy steps.

When you're trying to determine whether it's better to use radiator valves or your thermostat to control the heating, hither are some key points to consider:

Does your firm have multiple thermostats? If the answer'southward yes, you're less likely to need radiator valves. This is considering each thermostat should allow you to adjust the temperature in different parts of your home.
Just if y'all just accept 1 thermostat for your entire domicile, radiator valves might be a good pick. Yous can set the thermostat to your platonic temperature°, and then conform the radiators in item rooms, to suit your needs.

Information technology'due south better to only turn information technology on when you need information technology – this is considering:

Heat is e'er being lost when the heating is on – even in actually well-insulated homes.
The colder it is outside, the more oestrus you'll lose. In wintertime, information technology's much colder outside than it is within – this means your home volition lose a lot of heat whenever you accept the heating on.
The longer you take the heating on, the more rut you'll lose. That's because your heating will be powering up at regular intervals, to keep catching up with the warmth that's escaped.

To find out about how to insulate doors and windows, head to our ultimate guide.

Information technology's best to go along them closed, trapping the heat in each room. Almost heating systems work by creating a "convection current" in a room. This describes the mode that hot air rises, moves circular the room, sinks downwards, and travels back to the heater, to be warmed upward one time more.

Past keeping the door closed, you tin ensure this cycle isn't disturbed, so the room stays as warm as possible.

The reply to this question depends on much hot h2o you utilise, and when you need it4. Standard boilers heat water, and go along it in a tank until it'southward needed – while combi boilers heat up water instantly.

For small-scale households that don't use a lot of h2o – a combi banality is likely the all-time choice, as it means hot water won't exist left to go cold, as is often the example with a standard boiler.
For big households that apply a lot of water – a regular banality could be the better option, equally combi boilers tend to be less efficient at heating water. Here, information technology's helpful to brand sure your tank is well-insulated, so it'south every bit energy-efficient as possible.

When information technology comes to replacing your boiler, having the almost efficient boiler possible makes a huge difference. Aim for an A-rated condensing banality, if possible.

**For more data on boilers, caput to our quick guide on different types of boilers, and how to choose the right one for you.**

Sources and references:

¹ https://energysavingtrust.org.u.k./advice/heating-and-hot-water/

ⁱⁱThis is calculated on the basis of a abode with a gas boiler. This uses the average almanac space heating energy consumption of a UK household of 10301.31kWh, co-ordinate to 2022 data from Odyssee here and converted into kWh. This is multiplied past the United kingdom's average unit gas price of 4.44 pence/kWh, as per Ofgem reporting here.

³ https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/infographic-bills-prices-and-profits

^iv https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/advice/boilers/

⁵100% of the renewable electricity we sell is backed by renewable certificates (Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin certificates (REGOs)). See hither for details on Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin certificates and how these work. A proportion of the electricity nosotros sell is also purchased directly from renewable generators in the Uk.

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Source: https://www.ovoenergy.com/guides/energy-guides/how-much-heating-energy-do-you-use

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