Electric Heating, Is It Worth It?

[northernhammer]

Moving into an old cottage which isn't exactly insulated to the latest standards haha. So was wondering about using electric radiators throughout. They seem pretty good these days and are quite energy efficient apparently and I guess it cheaper than putting a whole new system in, pipes and all.

Some nice ones available online by the looks of it - https://electricradiatorsonline.co.uk & https://www.electricradiatorshop.co.uk - they all look pretty nice.

Question is, with all the price hikes what's going to be the cheapest source of energy. Gas or Electric? Answers on a postcard.

[Atheist]

If the electricity is produced by fossil fuel generators, then it'll be affected by oil price rises.

[davebro]

Electricity is priced the same however it is produced I think.

If natural gas is going to be phased out & hydrogen is a long way off then electric may be the way to go. A friend who can't get gas uses an electric boiler for underfloor heating.
(and a log burner)

[Buenchico]

Just over a third of all electricity generated in the UK (35.7% in 2020) comes from gas, although the 5.4% of electricity which is imported (rather than being generated here) is likely to include a big proportion of gas-generated power. So, as a rough estimate, it might be around 40% in total of all electricity used in the UK that is sourced from gas.

On the face of it therefore, it would seem that increases in the price of electricity should be less likely to rise than domestic gas prices will because less than a half of all electricity production will be directly affected by the massive rise in wholesale gas prices.

However, with prices from gas-powered generation rising rapidly, electricity suppliers will then be competing to get their electricity from both nuclear power and renewables. That, inevitably, will push up the wholesale prices of such electricity, meaning that increases in domestic electricity prices won't necessarily be a lot lower than those for gas.

Even so, it might still be best to avoid using gas heating in homes at the moment, in favour of electric heating. So your plan would seem sensible enough to me.

Source for my figures:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1006701/DUKES_2021_Chapter_5_Electricity.pdf