Compare Heat Pump and Boiler Running Costs — Free
Paste installed costs, efficiencies and your fuel prices, and read annual running cost and cost per useful heat unit.
The proof surface
Headline prices say nothing about running costs, and running costs dominate on annual heat demand of ten thousand kWh or more. The matrix prices delivered heat, which is the only comparable number.
Why the flat version breaks
Headline efficiency
Laboratory efficiency figures assume ideal flow temperatures; a real retrofit often runs far below them.
Forgetting servicing
Servicing, parts and warranty conditions differ between systems and belong in the annual figure rather than outside it.
Comparing different property work
A heat pump often requires radiator or insulation work; omitting that from the installed cost flatters the comparison.
How to work the heating matrix
Installed cost, efficiency and fuel price per line.
Annual heat demand and the years you expect to keep the system.
Each row carries cost per delivered kWh and annual running cost, with the delivery basis named.
Request the seasonal efficiency your installer expects on your property before deciding.
What the matrix replaces
| Question | Before | On the matrix |
|---|---|---|
| Which is cheaper to run | compare headlines | cost per delivered kWh per system |
| What the total position is | ignore installation | installed cost spread across the years you keep it |
| What to ask installers | 'is it efficient?' | the seasonal efficiency expected in your property |
The matrix prices the figures you supply; it does not account for insulation, radiator sizing or tariff changes, and it is not a technical survey.
Run it on the samples, right here
FIRST-LOAD
Data note: Everything runs in this browser tab on the heating matrix: your system costs and fuel prices stays on this device, nothing is uploaded, and the reading is rebuilt only when you press run.
Go deeper: the companion app files the same reading as a scored comparison matrix
The article demo above runs without limits. The companion app keeps a local history, exports the rows as CSV, prints the ready-to-mail packet, and holds your drafts on this device — one free run, then $ 9 one-time for the layer that keeps filing.
The matrix and the per-kWh column are free. The paid layer keeps four options and prints the comparison for a contractor discussion.
Open the heating system matrix companionBoundary
This heating matrix works only on the system costs, efficiencies and fuel prices you paste you paste. It does not give technical heating advice, does not size a system, and does not guarantee running costs. The figures describe what you supplied, not what is true in the world. Confirm anything you plan to act on with a heating engineer who will put seasonal figures in writing before you rely on it.
What this is built on
- Every figure comes from the system costs, efficiencies and fuel prices you paste you paste; nothing is looked up, scraped or asserted as verified.
- Method: cost per delivered kWh = fuel price ÷ efficiency; annual running cost = that figure × annual heat demand
- Sample values are labelled samples — illustrative by design, not your data and not a quotation of any organisation's policy.
Before: the reader compared headline prices. After: they can see a heat pump at 9.4 cents per delivered kWh against a boiler at 12.1.