There’s a whole host of reasons why to invest in water based underfloor heating systems, including more comfort and space but one of the key considerations homeowners have are their running costs. Will Underfloor heating cost more or less to run?
We have compiled statistics from studies and recently published articles below to show how water based underfloor heating systems can compare with other heating systems. It is important to bear in mind that the calculations are based on a number of variables, mainly heating use, efficiency and also tariff price. All of which will vary between households.
Running costs in comparison to gas combi boiler with radiators
According to unit prices from 1st July to 30th September 2025, the cost per unit of gas is 6.33p/kWh. The actual rates you are charged will depend on where you live, how you pay your bill and the type of meter you have
Average family home: With 2 – 3 people in a 3 bed house:
Using the energy consumption data from the EPCs of all homes for sale on in March 2025, we can see the average annual use for this scenario is 11,500KwH.
suggests that 77.2% of total gas use is used on heating, equalling 8,878kWH and costing £561.98.
Multiple studies, including this one from the have shown that users can save around 25% if not more, when changing from radiators to Underfloor heating. For this scenario, the users would save around £140 a year, at £421.98 annual use.
Greater savings can be accomplished by:
- Using smart zoned heating, have shown can lead to further savings of around 25-37% on heating bills depending on the user’s scenario, potentially a further £126 annual saving (at 30%).
- Converting to a heat pump in the future could also bring further savings as our underfloor heating systems will give you the maximum efficiency they can produce, which can be seen below.
Looking to compare against electric UFH?
According to unit prices from 1st July to 30th September 2025, the cost per unit of electricity is 25.73 p/kWh.
For this scenario, we will need to find the rough heat demand, rather than the heat used in order for a fair comparison.
So using the same scenario we will start with the 8,878 kWH used. In comparison to the efficiency of boilers and radiators, electric UFH is 100% efficient (compared to a boiler at 90%) and floor heating a further 25% more efficient at warming rooms than radiators., we can assume that the actual demanded heat is closer to 5,992.65 kWH.
This brings the annual heating cost to £1,541 with electric UFH in comparison to £295 – £421 for a water based UFH system with a gas boiler over the same area.
Thinking about a heat pump?
Using the same scenario again and a heating demand of 5,992.65 kWH, but using a heat pump with water based underfloor heating and a COP (coefficient of performance) of 3.5 (350% efficient). Meaning, every 1kWh of electricity put in results in 3.5kWH of heat out. In this scenario, 1,712.18 kWh of electricity would be needed to supply the 5,992.65 kWH of heat demand. With the cost of electricity at 25.73/kWh brings a cost of £440.54 per year. Much cheaper than direct electric floor heating, and slightly more than using a condensing boiler due to the current cost of electricity.
It is worth noting that when using a heat pump in conjunction with one of our systems, users typically experience the best COP achievable. We have customers achieving much higher COP’s than 3.5. Some of our customers using ground source heat pumps have reported year round COPs of 6. At this rate the annual cost for heating with the current ofgem prices would be £256.98
Note that COPS on heat pumps can vary, it is generally accepted that air source heat pumps can range from 2-4 and Ground source heat pumps currently 3.5-5 or higher under optimal conditions.