About RunningCost

RunningCost publishes home energy calculators for UK households, run by Metate Group. It exists because most of the calculators you find are operated by companies that install the thing being calculated, and they have never once returned the answer “don’t bother”.

We will tell you when the answer is no

At the current price cap, electricity costs about 3.6 times what gas costs per unit. A heat pump only saves money if it beats that ratio in efficiency. With underfloor heating or radiators sized for it, it comfortably does. On small existing radiators it may not — and our calculator says so, shows you the electricity price at which the two break even, and explains that upgrading radiators is what changes the answer.

That is the whole point of the site. A calculator that always says yes is an advertisement.

Where the numbers come from

• Ofgem — energy price cap unit rates and standing charges
• Energy Saving Trust — Boiler Upgrade Scheme
• MCS — MIS 3002 solar irradiance standard
• GOV.UK — Future Homes Standard and Part L

Energy prices are the Ofgem price cap for 1 July – 30 September 2026 — 26.11p per kWh for electricity and 7.33p for gas. Solar yields use MCS irradiance data by region rather than a single national average, because Cornwall generates roughly 30% more than the Scottish Highlands from identical panels. Grant figures are the Boiler Upgrade Scheme: £7,500 standard, £9,000 off the gas grid during 21 July 2026 to 31 March 2027.

How often it is updated

Ofgem changes the price cap every three months — January, April, July and October. Those rates live in one place in the site’s code, so when they change, every calculator and every page updates together rather than some pages quietly going stale. Last checked 19 August 2026.

What these figures are not

They are estimates to help you think, not quotes. A calculator cannot see your loft insulation, your radiator sizes, the shading on your roof or whether your electrics need upgrading. Before spending money, get a survey from an MCS-certified installer — the gap between a good and a bad heat pump design is hundreds of pounds a year.

How the site is funded

RunningCost is free. It is funded by advertising and by commission when a reader chooses to request a quote from an installer we link to. Those links are marked. They do not change the figures — the calculator returns the same answer whether or not it happens to be an answer that earns us anything.