Contact

Home energy · Heating

Cheapest ways to heat one room

The cheapest option depends on whether you need to warm yourself or the whole room. A heated throw costs a few pence an hour but leaves the room cold; a heater warms the room but uses far more electricity.

Updated 2 October 2026 · energy.org.uk editorial team

The short answer

  • To warm yourself while sitting still, a heated throw, electric blanket or hot-water bottle usually costs much less than heating a room.
  • To warm a room, every plug-in electric heater turns all the electricity it uses into heat, so no type is cheaper per unit of heat. What matters is how much heat the room needs and how long you run it.
  • If you have gas central heating, a unit of heat from gas usually costs less than from an electric heater. Heating one room electrically only saves money if the rest of the house is turned down.

Try the room heating calculator with current prices.

Check

What to check first

  • What you need to keep warm. A throw warms a person, not a room. If you need the room warm (for a baby, someone unwell, or to stop damp), heat the room.
  • Your electricity rate. Heater costs scale directly with the unit rate.
  • Doors and draughts. Close the door to the room you are heating, and stop draughts around it.
  • Your heater's thermostat. A heater with a thermostat switches off once the room is warm, so it uses less than its rating suggests.
  • Damp risk. Rooms left very cold for long periods are more likely to get condensation and mould.

Do

Practical next steps

  1. Decide whether you need to warm yourself or the room.
  2. Compare options in the room heating calculator for the hours you use.
  3. If you have gas central heating, try turning radiators down in unused rooms rather than heating one room with electricity. See heating controls and boiler flow temperature.
  4. Use heaters safely: Electrical Safety First advises plugging portable heaters directly into a wall socket, not an extension lead, keeping them at least a metre from curtains, furniture and paper, and never leaving them on while you sleep or are out.

Take care

Important limitations

  • Costs depend on your rates, your room and the weather; the calculator shows examples, not a heat-loss assessment.
  • A heated throw or blanket is not a substitute for a warm home if anyone's health could suffer from the cold.
  • If you are struggling to afford heating, see help paying energy bills.

Related tools and guides

Sources

Official sources checked 2 October 2026.