Best electricity tariff for a heat pump: 2026 UK guide

If you have a heat pump on a standard variable tariff, you are probably paying 30-40% more than you need to. Heat-pump-specific tariffs charge a much cheaper rate during off-peak hours when the pump runs hardest. Picking the right one depends on your daily usage pattern, whether you have a battery, and whether you are already an EV owner.

What "heat-pump tariff" actually means

A few suppliers offer either a separate cheap rate for the heat pump circuit (requires a second meter) or a whole-house time-of-use tariff with cheap windows when the pump is most economical to run.

The latter is more common — same meter, cheap rate at certain hours, you schedule the pump to do its hardest work then.

The contenders in 2026

Pricing changes. Use this as a shortlist, then check current rates on the supplier's site.

• Octopus Cosy: three rates per day. Cheapest 13p/kWh from 04:00-07:00 and 13:00-16:00. Standard 25p/kWh otherwise. Peak 38p/kWh from 16:00-19:00. Built specifically for heat pumps. No requirement to be an Octopus heat pump customer — just a smart meter.
• OVO Heat Pump Plus: 15p/kWh fixed for everything the heat pump consumes, regardless of time of day. Requires an OVO-installed heat pump or a compatible third-party install. Simpler if you cannot easily schedule the pump.
• EDF Heat Pump Tracker: tracks wholesale price, typically averaging 20-22p/kWh. Variable monthly. Good for those comfortable with some price uncertainty.
• Octopus Agile: half-hourly pricing tracking the wholesale market. Cheap most of the time (often 5-15p/kWh), expensive in the 16:00-19:00 peak window. Best for households that can schedule heat-pump runs around the price.
• British Gas Heat Pump Tariff: 12-month fixed rate around 18-20p/kWh whole-house. Less aggressive than Octopus Cosy but no scheduling needed.

Which one suits which household

• Default recommendation: Octopus Cosy. Three windows are easy to schedule around, the off-peak rate is genuinely cheap, and there is no peak penalty if you avoid 16:00-19:00.
• Battery owner: Octopus Agile. Charge the battery on cheapest half-hours overnight, run the heat pump and other loads from the battery during expensive periods.
• EV owner with smart charging: Octopus Intelligent Go (different tariff again — gives 7p/kWh from 23:30-05:30 for the whole house, including the heat pump). Often the cheapest combo if the EV is the dominant load.
• You hate fiddling: OVO Heat Pump Plus. One rate, no scheduling, smaller saving but zero effort.
• Solar owner: Octopus Cosy + Octopus Outgoing Fixed for export. Cheap import in cheap windows, decent export earnings the rest of the time.

How to schedule the heat pump for time-of-use tariffs

Most modern heat pump controllers (Mitsubishi Ecodan, Daikin Altherma, Vaillant aroTHERM) support time schedules from the wall controller or a phone app. Set:

• Hot water cycle in the cheap morning window (04:00-07:00 on Octopus Cosy). The cylinder holds heat for 12+ hours, so morning heating gives you hot water all day.
• Space heating boost in the cheap afternoon window (13:00-16:00). Pre-heat the house before the peak window.
• Setback during peak (16:00-19:00). Drop the target by 1-2°C — the house thermal mass carries you through.

Done well this can drop the average rate from ~28p/kWh on standard variable to ~16p/kWh on Cosy.

Real-world savings

For a typical 3-bed running 4,000 kWh/yr through the heat pump:

• Standard variable (29p/kWh): £1,160/yr running cost.
• OVO Heat Pump Plus (15p/kWh flat): £600/yr.
• Octopus Cosy with smart scheduling (avg ~16p/kWh): £640/yr.
• Octopus Agile with battery + scheduling (avg ~12p/kWh): £480/yr.

The £500-£700/yr saving versus standard variable is real money. It is also more than the typical install premium for a heat pump pays back annually.

Common mistakes

• Staying on default tariff after install. Suppliers do not flag the better tariff for you.
• Picking time-of-use without enabling scheduling. If your pump runs flat-out during the 38p peak, you are worse off than standard variable.
• Forgetting about export. If you have solar, the export-tariff side often matters more than the import side. See our SEG guide.

The bottom line

Switch within a month of your heat pump going live. Octopus Cosy is the safest default; OVO Heat Pump Plus if you cannot face scheduling. Run our free pre-survey check for a personalised running-cost estimate that includes tariff comparisons.