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Is a heat pump cheaper to run than LPG? For most homes, comfortably yes
LPG is one of the most expensive ways to heat a British home — which makes LPG households the clearest winners from a properly designed heat pump. Here’s the kWh-for-kWh arithmetic, worked examples, and the July 2026 grant news that sweetens the switch.
- 10 min read
- Updated July 2026
- By Phil · Heat Loss Hub
QUICK ANSWER
Yes — for the large majority of LPG-heated homes, a well-designed air source heat pump is meaningfully cheaper to run, typically cutting heating costs by 30–50%. Delivered LPG heat costs roughly 10–12p per useful kWh once boiler efficiency is counted; a heat pump at SCOP 3.5–4.5 delivers the same kWh for roughly 6–7.5p at standard 2026 electricity rates, and less on a heat pump tariff. Add the Boiler Upgrade Scheme’s uplift to £9,000 for LPG homes from July 2026, and the case is as strong as it has ever been.
The cost of a kilowatt-hour, fuel by fuel
Heating comparisons only make sense one way: pence per kilowatt-hour of useful heat delivered into the house. Fuel prices come in confusing units — litres of LPG, litres of oil, pence per kWh of electricity — so we convert everything to the same currency. One litre of LPG contains about 7.1 kWh of energy; burned in a boiler at 85% seasonal efficiency, it delivers about 6 kWh of useful heat.
COST PER USEFUL KWH OF HEAT — ILLUSTRATIVE UK PRICES, MID-2026
| Heating system | Fuel price (typical) | System efficiency | Cost per useful kWh | 12,000 kWh/yr heat costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LPG boiler (bulk tank) | ≈ 72p/litre | 85% | ≈ 11.9p | ≈ £1,430 |
| LPG boiler (bottled 47 kg) | ≈ 85p/litre equiv. | 85% | ≈ 14.1p | ≈ £1,690 |
| Direct electric heating | 26p/kWh | 100% | 26p | £3,120 |
| Heat pump, SCOP 3.5 | 26p/kWh | 350% | ≈ 7.4p | ≈ £891 |
| Heat pump, SCOP 4.2 | 26p/kWh | 420% | ≈ 6.2p | ≈ £743 |
| Heat pump, SCOP 4.2 + HP tariff | ≈ 21p/kWh | 420% | ≈ 5.0p | ≈ £600 |
Prices are illustrative July 2026 figures for comparison purposes; LPG bulk prices vary widely by supplier contract and region — check your latest invoice, and see the note on tank agreements below. The arithmetic method is the point: put your own prices in and the ranking rarely changes.
A worked example: a real LPG household
FROM THE DESIGN DESK
A four-bed detached village home east of York, bulk LPG, using 1,900 litres a year (≈ 13,500 kWh of energy, ≈ 11,500 kWh of useful heat through their ageing boiler). At 72p/litre that’s ≈ £1,370 a year, plus £80 tank rental.
Our measured design: 8 kW unit at 46 °C flow, four radiator changes, SCOP projected at 3.9. Electricity for the same useful heat: 11,500 ÷ 3.9 ≈ 2,950 kWh × 26p ≈ £767 — or ≈ £620 on a heat pump tariff. Annual saving in the £600–£800 range, before the tank and its rental leave the garden entirely.
Beyond the unit price: LPG's hidden costs
The kWh table understates the LPG pain in ways every LPG household recognises:
- Price volatility and contract lock-in. Bulk LPG prices swing with global markets and your supplier agreement; switching suppliers involves tank ownership wrangles that mains-fuel users never see. Recent Middle East supply shocks pushed rural fuel costs up sharply — one of the stated reasons the government uplifted the grant for LPG homes.
- The tank itself — rental fees, siting rules, safety clearances, and a delivery lorry that must reach it in the week you need it.
- Ordering anxiety — running low in a January cold snap is a uniquely LPG experience. Heat pumps don’t need a delivery.
- No price cap — LPG sits outside the energy price cap’s protections; electricity doesn’t.
The £9,000 grant: LPG homes just moved to the front of the queue
From July 2026, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant for homes replacing LPG (or oil) heating with a heat pump rises from £7,500 to £9,000 in England and Wales — a £1,500 uplift announced in April 2026 specifically because off-grid households bear the sharpest fuel-price exposure. For a typical LPG-home installation, the grant now covers well over half the installed cost.
Your MCS installer claims it and handles the paperwork — including when that installer is one of the vetted network who build our designs. Full details in our blog post on the £9,000 BUS uplift.
DESIGNER'S INSIGHT
“LPG households are my favourite conversions because the honesty cuts our way for once: the fuel is so expensive that even a mediocre heat pump design would save money — and a good one saves a lot. But ‘even a mediocre design would win’ is exactly when quotes get lazy. Insist on the room-by-room numbers anyway; the difference between SCOP 3.2 and 4.2 is still £300 a year of your money.”
Phil
Founder & Lead Designer, Heat Loss Hub
What protects the saving
The saving in the tables is real, but it’s a design outcome. Three things keep it:
- A measured heat loss — LPG homes are often rural and older; assumption-based surveys overshoot hardest exactly here. A room-by-room calculation right-sizes the unit and the bill.
- The lowest honest flow temperature — every 10 °C lower is ~20–25% off the heating cost; emitters checked radiator by radiator make it happen. Start with the radiator guide.
- Commissioning to the design — weather compensation set, system balanced, hot water scheduled. Our design packs specify it so it can’t be skipped.
If you already have quotes, an independent design review will tell you which of them would actually deliver these numbers — before you sign anything.
Frequently asked questions
Distress purchases make bad designs — a failed boiler in November gets replaced by whatever fits fastest, usually like-for-like. Designing now (even installing next summer) means the decision happens calmly, the £9,000 uplift is available, and you stop burning premium-priced fuel a season sooner. A working boiler is a negotiating position, not a reason to wait.
It gets even more favourable — bottled LPG costs meaningfully more per kWh than bulk, as the table shows. Bottled households are typically the fastest paybacks we calculate.
Very likely — but measure, don’t assume, especially with stone construction. Our guide to heat pumps in old houses covers exactly this territory, and rural West Yorkshire homes are our daily bread.
Rented tanks go back to the supplier (check your agreement’s removal terms); owned tanks can be decommissioned and removed, or kept for a gas hob if you like cooking on flame. Either way, the space — and the rental line on the bill — comes back to you.
Rarely for LPG: hybrids make most sense when the legacy fuel is cheap per kWh, which LPG is not. Running the boiler on cold days means paying your most expensive rate exactly when demand peaks. A right-sized heat pump alone is almost always the better LPG answer.
CONTENTS
LPG HOUSEHOLD?
Rural LPG homes are among our most common design projects. Tell us about yours — we’ll run your real consumption through the sums.
OFF THE TANK, ONTO THE NUMBERS
Your last LPG invoice is the start of a better calculation
Tell us your annual litres and a little about your home. We’ll reply by email with an honest view of your savings potential — and the £9,000 grant route if the numbers stack up.