The Short Answer
For most heat pump homes, a heat pump tariff saves £300 to £500 a year against the price cap, as long as you schedule the heat pump into the cheap hours. On our typical home (4,000kWh for the heat pump, 2,500kWh for everything else, half the heating scheduled), Cosy Octopus comes to about £1,290 a year against £1,710 at the cap, and EDF's Heat Pump Tracker to about £1,400.
British Gas's half-price hours can beat both, but only if its fixed rate is close to the cap: above about 27.7p, Cosy wins. Put in your own numbers below. The one thing that matters more than which tariff you pick is whether your heat pump actually runs in the cheap windows.
Heat pump tariff calculator
Which heat pump tariff is cheapest for your home?
Every tariff priced hour by hour for your whole house, not just the heat pump. Rates checked 11 October 2026.
Your heat pump's app shows it. A three-bed semi is often 3,500 to 4,500kWh.
Ofgem's typical home uses 2,500kWh.
How is your heat pump scheduled?
EDF uses its Standard rate in your region; British Gas quotes a fixed rate. Both start at the cap average here. Put in your quote if you have one.
Cheapest: British Gas heat pump tariff
£1,225/yr
Half price for 10 hours a day. Heat pump at 17.0p a kWh. Saves £485 than the cap.
Cosy Octopus
£1,291/yr
12.33p for 8 hours, 37.70p 4pm to 7pm, 25.13p otherwise. Heat pump at 17.4p a kWh. Saves £420 than the cap.
EDF Heat Pump Tracker
£1,402/yr
10p off for 6 hours, no peak. Heat pump at 20.1p a kWh. Saves £309 than the cap.
Standard single rate (price cap)
£1,711/yr
26.32p every hour. Heat pump at 26.3p a kWh.
Cosy rates are the 14-region average from Octopus's published prices; yours depend on region. Household use follows E.ON Next's example split (19% between 4pm and 7pm). Standing charges and any exit fees aren't included. E.ON Next Pumped isn't shown because its rates are only given on a quote.
The Heat Pump Tariffs, Side by Side
| Tariff | Cheap hours | Cheap rate | Peak | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cosy Octopus | 4am to 7am, 1pm to 4pm, 10pm to midnight (8 hours) | 12.33p (regional average) | 37.70p, 4pm to 7pm | The peak hits cooking and evening heating |
| EDF Heat Pump Tracker | 4am to 7am, 1pm to 4pm (6 hours) | 10p off EDF's Standard rate | None | Smaller discount, but no peak to dodge |
| British Gas heat pump tariff | Midnight to 7am, 1pm to 4pm (10 hours) | Half your fixed rate | None advertised | Fixed rate only given on a quote |
| E.ON Next Pumped | 10pm to 6am super off-peak | Quote only | 4pm to 7pm | Rates not published |
Checked on 11 October 2026. Cosy rates are Octopus's published prices averaged across all 14 regions; your region will be a little different. EDF's tariff tracks its Standard rate, so it moves with the price cap every three months. You need a heat pump (or for some, other electric heating) and a smart meter for all of them.
Why Scheduling Decides It
A heat pump left to run whenever it likes uses power round the clock, including the 4pm to 7pm peak on Cosy. On our example home that puts the heat pump's electricity at about 22.4p a kWh on Cosy: better than the 26.32p cap, but only just. Schedule half its use into the cheap windows and that falls to about 17.4p; schedule most of it and it's about 14.4p.
In practice that means:
- Hot water in the cheap windows. The easiest win. Heat the cylinder at 4am or 1pm, not at teatime.
- Pre-heat before the peak. Run a degree or so warmer from 1pm to 4pm, then let the house coast through 4pm to 7pm. A well-insulated home barely notices.
- Keep weather compensation on. Scheduling shouldn't mean higher flow temperatures; that costs more in efficiency than the tariff saves.
Some heat pumps and controllers do this automatically when linked to the tariff. Ask your installer, or check the app.
Which One Should You Pick?
- You can shift your heating and cook early: Cosy. The cheapest cheap rate and the most cheap hours.
- The household is busy 4pm to 7pm and you can't avoid it: EDF Heat Pump Tracker, because it has no peak rate.
- You want a fixed price: get a British Gas quote and put its rate in the calculator. Ten half-price hours a day is generous, but the base rate decides it.
- You have solar and a battery too: look at the whole picture, including your export tariff, before switching. Our solar with a heat pump guide runs those numbers.
What You Don't Need
- A battery just to use a heat pump tariff. Your hot water cylinder and the fabric of the house are a free battery for heat. Shift those first.
- An EV tariff, unless you have an EV. The very cheap overnight EV rates can look tempting, but their day rates are usually higher and a heat pump does much of its work in the day. Our EV tariff guide compares them.
- To stay on a tariff that's costing you. Cosy's variable version and EDF's Heat Pump Tracker have no exit fees, so you can try one for a quarter and compare.
Still deciding on a heat pump? See heat pump running costs, heat pump vs gas boiler and our Octopus heat pump review.
Don't have a heat pump yet?
On a heat pump tariff, heat can cost under 15p a kWh of electricity, and the £7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant comes off the install. Free, no-obligation quotes from MCS-certified installers.
Get heat pump quotes