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Cost guide · Running a heat pump · SEAI fuel prices 1 Jul 2026

A heat pump makes a unit of heat for 9.8c; oil costs 18.0c

A unit of heat from a heat pump costs about 9.8c, against 18.0c from an oil boiler and 14.5c from gas (SEAI fuel cost comparison, 1 July 2026). That's 45% less than oil and 32% less than gas, if the pump runs at SEAI's assumed efficiency. A house that loses heat fast costs more to heat with any of them.

A smart heating thermostat on a white wall

A heating thermostat. What any heating costs to run depends on the price of a unit of heat and how many units the house needs.

Overview of Netatmo Thermostat in Michle, Prague · Jiří Sedláček · CC BY-SA 4.0

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9.82c

A unit of heat from a heat pump

SEAI fuel cost comparison 1 Jul 2026 · electricity 34.38c ÷ 3.5

Published figure

18.00c

From an oil boiler. Gas: 14.45c

Kerosene 12.60c at 70% · gas 13.00c at 90%

Published figure

31 of 31

SEAI editions since 2019 where a heat pump's heat cost less than oil and gas

SEAI fuel cost archive · Jan 2019–Jul 2026 · at 3.5

Published figure

+27%

More heat needed in Monaghan than in Kerry

Degree days 1991–2020 where people live · 2,363 vs 1,859

Our model

Updated · fuel prices 1 Jul 2026 · How we know · Corrections

Where this sits · the heat chain

The heating only puts back what the house loses. A heat pump works best when the house loses less.

  1. Fabricwalls, roof, floor, windows
  2. Airdraughts and ventilation
  3. Heatheat pump or boiler, radiators, controls
  4. Usebills, comfort, the BER
  1. The idea behind itkW × hours = kWh
  2. You are hereWhat a heat pump costs to run
  3. Next questionWhat does a heat pump cost to put in?

What a unit of heat costs, by fuel

What one kilowatt-hour of heat delivered into the house costs, allowing for each system's efficiency. SEAI, 1 July 2026. Published figure

Figure 1Published figure

Heat from a heat pump costs 45% less than heat from oil

Against a gas boiler it costs 32% less. Electric heaters cost the most, at 34.4c.

  1. Heat pump9.82c
  2. Gas14.45c
  3. Oil18.00c
  4. LPG25.24c
  5. Electric34.38c

Each bar is what one kilowatt-hour of heat delivered into the house costs, from SEAI's domestic fuel cost comparison of 1 July 2026. It allows for each system's efficiency as SEAI states it: 3.5 units of heat per unit of electricity for a heat pump, 90% for a gas boiler, 70% for an oil boiler. Standing charges are not included, and your own tariff may differ.

Sources: SEAI Domestic Fuel Cost Comparison, 1 Jul 2026

From the price you pay to the price of a unit of heat

Each fuel's delivered price, the efficiency SEAI assumes, and the cost of a unit of heat
FuelPrice of a unit deliveredEfficiency SEAI assumesCost of a unit of heat
Heat pump34.38cSPF 3.59.82c
Gas13.00c90% (condensing boiler 85-97%)14.45c
Oil12.60c70% (oil boiler 60-75%)18.00c
LPG17.67c70%25.24c
Electric34.38c100% (direct electric)34.38c

SEAI Domestic Fuel Cost Comparison, 1 Jul 2026 · cent per kWh · electricity band DD, gas band D2, kerosene at the schedule price for 1,000 litres

A unit of heat is a kilowatt-hour. About what a one-kilowatt heater gives off in an hour. A typical house needs thousands of them in a year, so a few cent a unit adds up.

A heat pump has been cheaper per unit in every SEAI edition since 2019

SEAI's own archive of fuel prices, 31 editions, Jan 2019 to Jul 2026. Published figure

Figure 2Published figure

Oil heat has cost between 1.3 and 3.4 times heat pump heat since 2019

Oil peaked at 27.0c a unit of heat in Apr 2026, when heating oil cost €1.93 a litre, the most in SEAI’s series back to 1990.

Cost of a unit of heat from a heat pump, gas and oil, selected SEAI editions
EditionHeat pumpGasOilOil ÷ heat pump
Jul 20195.89c7.62c12.06c2.0×
Jul 20205.96c7.43c8.78c1.5×
Jul 20216.11c6.89c11.96c2.0×
Jul 20226.54c9.41c22.13c3.4×
Oct 20229.03c17.15c19.52c2.2×
Jul 20238.15c16.28c15.79c1.9×
Jul 20247.91c14.13c17.62c2.2×
Jul 20258.57c13.54c15.57c1.8×
Apr 20269.82c14.45c27.04c2.8×
Jul 20269.82c14.45c18.00c1.8×

Each row is one edition of SEAI's fuel cost archive, priced the same way as figure 1: band DD electricity at 3.5 for the heat pump, band D2 gas at 90%, kerosene at 70%. The table shows each July and the two peaks; the comparison holds in all 31 editions from Jan 2019. Prices are as SEAI recorded them, not adjusted for inflation.

EstimateThe efficiencies are SEAI's assumptions, held fixed across every edition.

Sources: SEAI Domestic Fuel Cost Archive (spreadsheet), fetched, 5 Oct 2026

The numbers
The numbers behind figure 2
EditionHeat pumpGasOilKerosene €/litre
Jan 20196.16c8.46c10.87c€0.77
Apr 20195.89c7.62c11.77c€0.84
Jul 20195.89c7.62c12.06c€0.86
Oct 20196.31c8.49c10.58c€0.75
Jan 20206.31c8.49c12.29c€0.88
Apr 20205.96c7.43c8.37c€0.60
Jul 20205.96c7.43c8.78c€0.63
Oct 20206.55c7.79c8.46c€0.60
Jan 20216.55c7.79c9.66c€0.69
Apr 20216.11c6.89c10.81c€0.77
Jul 20216.11c6.89c11.96c€0.85
Oct 20217.24c8.70c13.10c€0.93
Jan 20227.24c8.70c14.02c€1.00
Apr 20226.54c9.41c19.87c€1.42
Jul 20226.54c9.41c22.13c€1.58
Oct 20229.03c17.15c19.52c€1.39
Jan 20239.03c17.15c17.98c€1.28
Apr 20238.15c16.28c15.94c€1.14
Jul 20238.15c16.28c15.79c€1.13
Oct 202310.73c18.20c19.62c€1.40
Jan 202410.73c18.20c16.92c€1.21
Apr 20247.91c14.13c17.21c€1.23
Jul 20247.91c14.13c17.62c€1.26
Oct 20248.41c14.96c15.46c€1.10
Jan 20258.41c14.96c16.32c€1.16
Apr 20258.57c13.54c16.21c€1.16
Jul 20258.57c13.54c15.57c€1.11
Oct 20258.57c13.54c15.87c€1.13
Jan 20268.57c13.54c15.51c€1.10
Apr 20269.82c14.45c27.04c€1.93
Jul 20269.82c14.45c18.00c€1.28

At a lower efficiency. A heat pump that makes 2.5 units of heat per unit of electricity, not 3.5, would still have been cheaper than oil in 30 of the 31 editions, but dearer than gas in 13. Efficiency depends on the design, the radiators and how warm the water runs, so ask the installer what their design expects.

Where you live changes how much heat you buy

Heating degree days a year, 1991–2020, where people live in each county. Our model

Figure 3Our model

A house in Monaghan needs 27% more heat than the same house in Kerry

Ireland’s figure, weighted by where households are, is 2,099 degree days. Monaghan is 12.6% above it; Kerry, 11.5% below.

  1. Monaghan2,363
  2. Cavan2,323
  3. Donegal2,289
  4. Leitrim2,289
  5. Laois2,269
  6. Longford2,264
  7. Westmeath2,256
  8. Roscommon2,250
  9. Wicklow2,234
  10. Meath2,218
  11. Kildare2,213
  12. Offaly2,196
  13. Sligo2,193
  14. Tipperary2,175
  15. Carlow2,166
  16. Kilkenny2,145
  17. Louth2,135
  18. Mayo2,098
  19. Dublin2,068
  20. Limerick2,068
  21. Clare2,035
  22. Galway2,028
  23. Wexford2,026
  24. Waterford2,000
  25. Cork1,947
  26. Kerry1,859

A degree day is one degree of cold below 15.5°C for one day. Twice the degree days means the same house needs about twice the heat. Each bar averages the 1 km squares under each county's towns and villages, so mountains don't count. It changes the heat a house needs, not its BER, which assumes the same weather everywhere.

EstimateCounty degree days are fixmyber's model of Met Éireann's 1 km grid of 1991–2020 temperatures (Hitchin's formula, fitted to ten long-record stations; within about 2% of them).

Sources: Met Éireann 1 km temperature grid, 1991–2020, modelled by fixmyber, 5 Oct 2026

What the price of a unit leaves out

The things that move your bill that a cent-per-unit comparison can't show. Our reading

  • How much heat the house loses. A leaky house needs more units of heat from any system. Insulating first cuts the bill and the size of pump needed.
  • Standing charges. Dropping gas saves its standing charge; a heat pump keeps only the electricity one.
  • Your tariff. SEAI prices standard-rate electricity. A cheaper night or day-time rate changes the sum, for better or worse.
  • How warm you keep it, and for how long. A heat pump runs best low and steady, which feels different from a boiler that blasts heat twice a day.

Questions people ask

Is a heat pump expensive to run?
Per unit of heat, no. It costs about 9.8c, against 18.0c from oil and 14.5c from gas at SEAI's prices of 1 July 2026. Your electricity bill goes up and the oil or gas bill stops.
Do heat pumps use a lot of electricity?
SEAI's comparison assumes one unit of electricity makes 3.5 units of heat. So the heat a house used to get from oil or gas now comes from far fewer units of electricity, but they all go on the electricity bill.
Is a heat pump cheaper to run than gas?
Per unit of heat, yes: 32% cheaper at SEAI's prices of 1 July 2026. At a poorer efficiency of 2.5, it would have cost more than gas in 13 of the 31 SEAI editions since 2019, the last in Jan 2022.
Does where I live change the running cost?
Yes. The same house needs about 27% more heat in Monaghan than in Kerry, because the winters are colder. That changes the bill for any heating system, not just a heat pump.

How we know

Sources

SEAI Domestic Fuel Cost Comparison, 1 Jul 2026 · SEAI Domestic Fuel Cost Archive, 5 Oct 2026 · Met Éireann 30-year averages, 1991–2020

Found a mistake? Every fix is dated on Corrections. Method in full: How we know.

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Updated · fuel prices 1 Jul 2026 · How we know · Corrections