How much does an electric fireplace cost per hour, flame only and with heat?
Running the flame effect alone on a modern LED electric fire costs about 0.4p an hour at the Ofgem cap rate of 26.11p per kWh, because the lighting draws around 14 watts. Turn the fan heater on to its 2kW setting and the same fire draws roughly 1.8 kilowatts, which is 47p an hour or £1.88 for an evening in front of it.
Two appliances in one box
An electric fire is a lamp and a heater sharing a cabinet, and they have almost nothing in common on your bill. Take them apart before you work anything out.
The flame effect is the lamp. On older Dimplex models with a bulb and a rotating mirror, the effect drew around 130 watts, which is about the same as leaving a bright bedroom lamp burning. On the current LED versions of the same fires the figure is closer to 14 watts. Dimplex quotes standby figures of 0.37 watts on the Club and Courchevel models and 0.02 watts on the Cheriton, so leaving one plugged in and switched off is genuinely free.
The heater is a fan heater. Dimplex publishes a nominal heat output of 1.8 kilowatts at 230 volts for the Club and Courchevel, 1.7 kilowatts for the Cheriton, and a minimum setting of 0.9 kilowatts. Shops advertise these as 2kW fires, which is the rating at the higher end of the voltage range, so the real draw in a British house sits a little under the number on the box.
Work it out for your own electric fireplace
Type in the wattage from the plate on the back, then your own unit rate. The numbers update as you type.
The cost per hour, both modes
At the Ofgem cap rate for the current period, this is what an hour looks like.
| What is switched on | Power drawn | Cost per hour | Four hour evening | Month of evenings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LED flame effect only | 14 W | 0.4p | 1.5p | 44p |
| Older bulb flame effect | 130 W | 3.4p | 14p | £4.07 |
| Heater on the low setting | 900 W | 23.5p | 94p | £28.20 |
| Heater on the high setting | 1,800 W | 47.0p | £1.88 | £56.40 |
| Advertised 2kW figure | 2,000 W | 52.2p | £2.09 | £62.66 |
The bottom two rows are the same fire. One is the figure the retailer prints and the other is the figure Dimplex publishes for a 230 volt supply, and the 5p an hour between them is a useful reminder that no cost page can be more accurate than the plate on your own appliance.
| Appliance | Typical draw | Usage we assume | Per hour (UK) | Per usage (UK) | Per month (UK) | Per hour (US) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electric fireplace | 1800 W | per hour with the heater on | 47.0p | 47.0p | £57.02 | 33.0 cents |
Rates: Ofgem cap 1 July to 30 September 2026 at 26.11p per kWh (source), EIA residential average June 2026 at 18.34 cents per kWh (source). Checked 2026-09-22.
How the sum works
Divide the watts by a thousand to get kilowatts, multiply by the hours, then multiply by your unit rate in pence.
The heater on high is 1,800 divided by a thousand, which is 1.8 kilowatts. Multiply by one hour and you have 1.8 kilowatt hours. Multiply by 26.11 and you get 47p. The flame effect is 14 divided by a thousand, which is 0.014 kilowatts, so an hour is 0.014 kilowatt hours and 0.37 of a penny.
That gap is the only thing worth remembering from this page. You could leave the flames running from October to March, every evening, and spend less than three pounds. One evening of the heater costs more than that.
Six ways to spend less on the same fire
- Use the flame effect on its own for atmosphere and let the central heating do the heating, because a fire that looks warm costs nothing and a fire that is warm costs 47p an hour.
- Run the 1kW setting rather than the 2kW one. A fan heater at half output in a small room reaches a comfortable temperature almost as quickly, and it costs half as much to hold it there.
- Put the fire on a plug in timer or use the built in one, so a room you left an hour ago is not still being heated.
- Close the door of the room you are heating. The fire only makes sense as a single room solution, and an open door turns it into a very expensive way to warm a hallway.
- Turn the thermostat down by one degree in the rooms the boiler still serves, which often pays for the fire entirely.
- Check whether your model has an eco or LED flame option. Swapping a 130 watt bulb assembly for the LED version on a fire you use every evening saves about £3.60 a month, which is small, but it also stops the fire from adding heat you did not ask for in summer.
Against the other ways to heat one room
Every direct electric heater turns a kilowatt hour of electricity into a kilowatt hour of heat, which means a 2kW electric fire, a 2kW oil filled radiator and a 2kW fan heater all cost exactly the same to run. The differences people argue about online are differences in how the heat feels and how long the room holds it, not in the meter reading.
Gas central heating is a different case, because gas costs 7.33p per kilowatt hour against 26.11p for electricity. A boiler ticking over at 10 kilowatts costs about 73p an hour and warms the whole house. If you want one room warm for two hours, the fire at 47p an hour is cheaper. If the family is spread across three rooms all evening, the boiler wins and it is not close.
What it costs in the United States
American electric fireplaces are usually rated at 1500 watts, which is the practical limit for a standard 120 volt outlet. At the EIA residential average of 18.34 cents per kilowatt hour, an hour of heat costs 28 cents and a four hour evening costs $1.10. The flame effect alone, at 14 watts, costs about a quarter of a cent an hour, so a whole month of evening ambience comes to roughly 31 cents.
Common questions
Do electric fireplaces use a lot of electricity?
The flame effect does not, and the heater does. On an LED model the flames cost roughly 0.4p an hour, which is less than a single lamp. The fan heater behind them is a 2 kilowatt appliance, so it costs the same per hour as any other 2 kilowatt heater in the house regardless of how the fire looks.
How much does it cost to run a 1500 watt electric fireplace?
A 1500 watt setting uses 1.5 kilowatt hours in an hour, which is 39p at the current cap rate. Most American models are sold at 1500 watts because of the 120 volt supply, while British ones are usually 1kW or 2kW.
How much does it cost to run an electric fireplace per month?
Four hours an evening with the heater on the 2kW setting comes to about £56 a month. Four hours an evening with the flames alone comes to 44p a month, which is the difference between decoration and heating.
Is it cheaper to run an electric fireplace or central heating?
For one room on a mild evening the fire usually wins, because a gas boiler heats the whole house to warm one sofa. Once you need two or three rooms warm the boiler wins easily, since gas costs 7.33p per kilowatt hour against 26.11p for electricity.