Heat pumps vs gas boilers: how the long-term costs really compare

There are many ways to heat your home, but by far the most common way in the UK is by using a gas boiler.

However, gas boilers can be expensive in the long-run as they are not as efficient as other heating sources.

Not only that, the price you pay for each unit of energy can swing wildly, leaving you at the mercy of movements in the gas market, which can be particularly volatile as we saw following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

These are among the reasons some households have switched to heat pumps from trusted suppliers like E.ON Next, which can be cheaper to run in the long-term when compared to a gas boiler.

And not only can heat pumps be cheaper than gas boilers, they are more energy efficient, and typically have longer life spans.

How are heat pumps more efficient and cheaper than gas boilers?

Heat pumps are more efficient than gas boilers because of the way each system warms your home.

Gas boilers heat your home by drawing gas from the mains supply and burning it to boil water, then pumping it around your home.

Meanwhile, heat pumps work by extracting the heat in the air outside your home and moving it into your home using electricity.

Unlike the gas boiler which has to create heat to warm your home, heat pumps boost and move it, meaning they can achieve efficiency of over 300%, according to the Energy Transitions Commission, a think tank.

Better energy efficiency means you effectively get more heating for each unit of energy you consume. Not only is this more sustainable than a gas boiler, it also means you pay less for the same amount of heat produced – and these savings stack up in the long term

How does a heat pump’s efficiency lead to long-term savings when compared to a gas boiler?

Because a heat pump is more efficient than a gas boiler, the number of units of energy it takes to warm your home will be lowered. That means you will not need to pay for as many energy units as you would if you had a gas boiler.

The upfront cost of installing an E.ON Next heat pump is typically around £12,000, though this will vary for different homes. This is more than the price of most new gas boilers.

However, the government offers a grant of £7,500 to help with the cost of installing a heat pump, meaning this price can be slashed if you successfully apply for this scheme. E.ON Next’s team can handle the application for you, meaning you aren’t inundated with paperwork.

Thanks to the much greater efficiency of a heat pump, this initial price difference can be eroded as savings on your energy bill roll in, helping offset the higher upfront cost.

That means over the long term, households can end up financially better off with their heat pump thanks to its greater energy efficiency and longer life span.

What is more, when you buy a heat pump from E.ON Next you get much more than just your heat pump and the labour to install it.

The fully managed installation process provided by E.ON Next is seamless and managed by a team of experts, making the process stress-free for working families.

And you have access to a dedicated heat pump support team that provides useful guidance which is invaluable for first-time renewable adopters.

Why should you work out the total cost of your heating by lifetime, instead of upfront cost?

When making a decision about which heating system to install, you should think about it in terms of lifetime cost rather than just upfront cost as this gives you a fuller understanding of the real price of using each system.

Consider the following simplified example. Imagine heating system A has an upfront cost of £1,000, but provides savings of £1 a day when compared to system B, which has an upfront cost of £500.

It would be misleading to say that system B is the cheaper option as while it may cost less upfront, system A actually becomes cheaper after 501 days. If the lifespan of both systems is 1,000 days, you will be £500 better off with system A than with system B thanks to the daily savings.

This same effect happens when you compare a heat pump to a gas boiler. While a heat pump is more expensive to install than the typical gas boiler upfront, its greater efficiency means you pay less to heat your home.

When you add up these savings over days, months, and years, many households will find that they are actually better off with a heat pump than with a gas boiler.

What is more, cost-conscious consumers who switch to a heat pump will also be able to enjoy integration with smart tariffs, reserved exclusively for them.

E.ON Next’s smart tariffs offer lower unit rates for households with heat pumps during certain off-peak hours. For example, E.ON Next’s Next Pumped smart tariff provides electricity prices significantly lower than their standard rates in the “super off-peak” hours between 10pm and 6am.

By shifting your electricity usage to these hours, you are able to maximise savings by driving down the cost of consuming one unit of electricity.

An E.ON Next heat pump also gives you the ability to access extra smart controls, helping tech-savvy households manage their energy consumption and optimise efficiency.