Heat Pump Running Cost Calculator
Enter annual heat demand, the seasonal COP and your electricity price to see the yearly running cost.
Result
How it is calculated
Enter the heat your home needs per year in kWh, the seasonal COP of the heat pump, and the electricity price per kWh. COP is heat delivered divided by electricity used, so electricity used = heat demand / COP in kWh. Then annual cost = electricity used × price, monthly cost = annual cost / 12 (a flat average, not a seasonal profile) and cost per kWh of heat = price / COP. Use a seasonal figure (SCOP or SPF) rather than the best-case value on the data sheet. The tool covers heating only, with no standing charges, hot water scheduling or defrost, and no difference between day and night tariffs. Heat demand is the heat needed, not the electricity currently billed.
Worked example
A home needs 12,000 kWh of heat a year, the heat pump has a seasonal COP of 3.2, and electricity costs 0.28 per kWh. Electricity used = 12,000 / 3.2 = 3,750 kWh. Annual cost = 3,750 × 0.28 = $1,050.00. Monthly average = 1,050 / 12 = $87.50. One kWh of heat costs 0.28 / 3.2 = 0.088, which you can compare with the price of a kWh of heat from a gas or oil boiler.
Common mistakes
- Entering the electricity bill or the gas bill in kWh as the heat demand: the field is the heat the home needs, and a gas boiler's gas use is higher than its heat output.
- Using the best COP on the data sheet (tested at mild conditions) instead of a seasonal one, which makes the running cost look too low.
- Spreading the annual cost evenly over the months: most of it falls in the colder months, so winter bills are far above the monthly average.
- Comparing the heat pump cost per kWh of electricity with gas per kWh of gas: compare cost per kWh of heat, which is what the last result shows.
- Leaving out standing charges and hot water, which this tool does not include.
About this calculator
A heat pump’s running cost depends on how much heat your home needs and how efficiently the pump turns electricity into that heat, expressed by its seasonal coefficient of performance (SCOP) — a heat pump with an SCOP of 3.5 delivers 3.5 units of heat for every 1 unit of electricity consumed, averaged across a heating season rather than at one lab-tested condition. The formula is annual running cost = (annual heat demand in kWh ÷ SCOP) × electricity price per kWh, since dividing heat demand by SCOP converts it into the actual electricity consumed.
Homeowners weighing a heat pump against gas or oil heating use this figure to see the real operating cost side by side with their current system, because a heat pump’s efficiency advantage (SCOP well above 1, versus roughly 0.9 for a gas boiler) can offset electricity being priced higher per kWh than gas. The SCOP itself varies with climate and system design — air-source heat pumps in colder climates run a lower SCOP than ground-source systems or the same unit in a milder region.
This calculator takes your annual heat demand, seasonal COP and electricity price and returns the estimated yearly running cost, so you can budget for a heat pump or compare it against your current heating system.
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