One in four households pay quadruple for heat

A concerning 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.

When asked, respondents said they opted for plug-in heaters over central heating, for the following reasons: 

• I only need to heat one room, so don’t want to turn on the heating (54%)

• They provide instant heat (45%)

• I assume they are cheaper to run than gas central heating (34%)

• I am not able to heat just one room with central heating (27%)

Dimitrios Stefanoglou, Sustainable Innovation Analyst at Utilita, comments:

“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.”

Utilita’s Power Price List is a database of the 76 most common household electrical items, revealing their average cost to run and when left in standby mode. The database looks at the impact on the pocket and the planet.

Dimitrios Stefanoglous continues:

“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.

Interested in consumer behaviours, the study also revealed what inspired their purchase of an electric heater. The majority of people either said a family member or friend had encouraged their purchase (39%), or that they had seen a TV advert (35%).

Utilita’s Power Price List - pocket & planet-friendly 

Utilita’s Power Price List reveals the following data for 76 commonly used household appliances: 

• Average cost to buy

• Average cost / carbon generated per minute

• Average cost / carbon generated per use / cycle

• Average cost / carbon generated in standby mode

• Average miles driven in a standard car (equivalent carbon emissions)

A live version of a more in-depth Power Price List is available for consumer-facing organisations, researchers and reputable media outlets. Requests for access should be emailed to Lisa@sensecommunications.co.uk.