Quarter of households pay 25% more on their energy bills

A quarter (25%) of households will pay as much as four times more for the heat they use between now and 1st January 1st, by opting for a plug-in electric heater over gas central heating, according to new research by Utilita.

The data reveals households still opt for an electric heater, despite the running costs ranging between 3-3.7 times more to heat one room. 15 per cent of those who opt for a plug-in heater over central heating claim they tend to do this all winter, opting to leave their central heating off completely.

Dimitrios Stefanoglou, Sustainable Innovation Analyst at Utilita said “Around half (51%) of the households that use portable electric heaters said they would struggle to calculate the running costs of a heater versus using gas central heating for one room. So we have done the work for them.

“Plug-in heaters cost significantly more to operate. On average, running an electric portable heater will cost £3 per day, compared to just £0.90 per day for gas central heating for one room. They cost between 3-3.7 times more to run, on average.

“Heating the average sized living room (17.1m²) with an electric portable heater would cost £400.46, compared to £136.17 a year with a 20-year-old boiler, or £108.65 with a new gas boiler equipped with smart controls.”

“Electric heaters are power hungry, so switching from gas heating to electric portable heaters will result in an additional 34 kg of CO₂ emissions per living room per year. This translates to each household driving 127 additional miles in a car.”