Typical energy bills by home
What each kind of home typically pays in a year for gas and electricity, heated by a mains gas boiler with average insulation, at the price cap for October to December 2026. Standing charges are included.
| Home | A year | A month | Gas | Electricity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 bed flat | £1,193 | £99 | £555 | £639 |
| 2 bed flat | £1,437 | £120 | £674 | £763 |
| 2 bed mid-terrace | £1,429 | £119 | £666 | £763 |
| 2 bed bungalow | £1,604 | £134 | £842 | £763 |
| 3 bed mid-terrace | £1,789 | £149 | £889 | £900 |
| 3 bed semi-detached | £1,885 | £157 | £985 | £900 |
| 3 bed detached | £1,941 | £162 | £1,041 | £900 |
| 4 bed detached | £2,359 | £197 | £1,272 | £1,087 |
| 5 bed detached | £3,068 | £256 | £1,662 | £1,406 |
Gas includes its £108.33 standing charge and electricity its £200.13 one. Rows may not add up to the pound because each figure is rounded.
How your heating changes the bill
The same 3 bed semi with average insulation, heated different ways. Electricity for lighting, appliances and cooking is the same in every row; only the heating part changes.
| Heating | Whole bill a year |
|---|---|
| Mains gas boiler | £1,885 |
| Oil boiler | £2,216 |
| LPG boiler | £2,006 |
| Electric heating, standard rate | £3,506 |
| Heat pump, standard tariff | £1,837 |
| Heat pump, heat pump tariff | £1,605 |
Storage heaters on Economy 7 cost less than the single rate shown for electric heating; our storage heaters guide prices them properly. A heat pump on a heat pump tariff, with the gas supply capped, gives the lowest bill here. Check a heat pump for your home.
How insulation changes the bill
The same 3 bed semi on gas at each insulation level: poor £1,981 a year, average £1,885, good £1,754 and excellent £1,552. The insulation calculator shows what each measure is worth for your home, and the retrofit plan puts the work in order.
How we work it out
Heating comes from our heat model, built from meter readings for 39,502 gas heated homes in the government's National Energy Efficiency Data-Framework, by property type, size and insulation. Oil and LPG boilers are taken as 85% efficient; heat pumps use the median efficiency measured in 428 real homes, adjusted for insulation.
Everything else is the median electricity a home with that many bedrooms used in England and Wales in 2024, from the same government data: 1,666 kWh for 1 bedroom, 2,137 kWh for 2, 2,659 kWh for 3, 3,371 kWh for 4 and 4,581 kWh for 5 or more. It is a median across all homes, including the few heated by electricity, so it runs a little above what lights and appliances alone use.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average energy bill in the UK?
Ofgem puts a typical home paying by direct debit at £1,723 a year at the price cap for October to December 2026, for 2,500 kWh of electricity and 9,500 kWh of gas. Real homes vary a great deal around that: on our figures a 1 bed flat on gas pays about £1,193 a year and a 5 bed detached house about £3,068.
Why is my bill higher than the calculator says?
The usual reasons are a home that loses heat faster than its insulation level suggests, more people at home in the day, a warmer thermostat, or a tariff above the price cap. Electric heating on a single rate tariff is expensive too: storage heaters on Economy 7 cost less than the standard rate this calculator uses.
How much are the standing charges?
Under the price cap for October to December 2026, paying by direct debit, electricity carries 54.83p a day, £200.13 a year, and gas 29.68p a day, £108.33 a year. Every home pays the electricity one; only homes on mains gas pay the gas one.
Does a heat pump lower the whole bill?
On a heat pump tariff, usually. For a 3 bed semi with average insulation the whole bill comes to about £1,605 a year on a heat pump tariff, against £1,885 with a gas boiler, partly because the gas standing charge goes once the gas supply is capped. On a standard electricity tariff the heat pump bill is about £1,837.
Data sources
- Ofgem, price cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026: unit rates, standing charges and the typical consumption values.
- DESNZ, National Energy Efficiency Data-Framework 2026: consumption headline tables for England and Wales, 2024, Table 4c (median electricity by number of bedrooms), and the gas records behind our heat model.
- Energy Systems Catapult for DESNZ, Electrification of Heat trial, December 2024: measured heat pump efficiency.
- BoilerJuice UK average kerosene price, 25 September 2026, converted at 10.294 kWh a litre (DESNZ greenhouse gas conversion factors 2026).