If you have an air source or ground source heat pump, choosing the right heat pump tariff can make a bigger difference to your bills than almost any other decision — yet most comparison sites don’t show the tariffs designed specifically for heat pump households.
There are currently four main heat pump tariffs available on the open market in the UK, from Octopus Energy, British Gas, EDF Energy and E.ON Next. Each works differently, and the cheapest off-peak rate isn’t always the one that saves you the most. Below you’ll find current rates for all four, across every DNO region, updated daily.
| Tariff | Supplier | Off-peak | Standard | Standing | Cheap window |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cosy Octopus | Octopus Energy | 13.07p/kWh | 26.63p/kWh | 42.42p/day | 04:00–07:00, 13:00–16:00, 22:00–00:00 |
| Heat Power Jul27 v1 | British Gas | 13.95p/kWh | 27.89p/kWh | 43.88p/day | 00:00–07:00, 13:00–16:00 |
| EDF Heat Pump & Save Tracker | EDF Energy | 16.35p/kWh | 26.35p/kWh | None | 04:00–07:00, 13:00–16:00 |
| Next Pumped | E.ON Next | 17.47p/kWh | 20.70p/kWh | 44.78p/day | 22:00–06:00 |
Some tariffs also charge a higher peak rate: Cosy Octopus 39.95p/kWh · Next Pumped 25.27p/kWh.
The peak rate trap
Two of these heat pump tariffs — Cosy Octopus and E.ON Next Pumped — are multi-rate time-of-use tariffs. The cheap off-peak window is funded by a higher peak rate during the early evening, when grid demand is highest (typically 4–7pm). For a heat pump household, this is the crux.
Heat pumps tend to run hardest in the evening: it’s when occupants come home, temperatures drop, and heating demand peaks. That’s exactly when peak rates apply so, you can end up paying a lot more for your heating if a large portion of your heating lands in the peak window.
The contrast between the two multi-rate tariffs is stark. Cosy Octopus charges 39.95p/kWh at peak — nearly three times its 13.07p off-peak rate and well above the 26.63p standard day rate. E.ON Next Pumped charges 25.27p/kWh at peak — only a few pence above its 20.70p standard rate, making it a much lower-risk tariff if you can’t guarantee your pump avoids the evening window.
The mitigation for Cosy Octopus is thermal mass. A well-insulated home with smart heating controls can pre-heat during the cheap 1–4pm afternoon window and coast through the 4–7pm peak on stored heat, barely running the pump at all. That’s when Cosy Octopus becomes genuinely powerful — and why Octopus reports customers saving an average of £200 a year on it. But a pump left on auto in a poorly insulated home will run straight through the peak and pay 39.95p for the privilege.
The off-peak rate alone doesn’t tell you which tariff saves you the most. It depends on how much of your heating load you can shift out of the peak window — which depends on your insulation, your controls, and how your household actually lives.
That’s what our heat pump tariff calculator can help with for your specific home:
Check which heat pump tariff is best for your home →
Heat pump tariffs – details
Cosy Octopus (Octopus Energy)
Three off-peak windows daily: 4–7am, 1–4pm, and 10pm–midnight. Eight cheap hours in total. The 1–4pm afternoon window is particularly well-suited to heat pumps — it’s long enough to pre-heat a home and a hot water cylinder before the evening peak. Available to any household with a smart meter and electric heating; you don’t need to be an Octopus heat pump customer. No exit fees.
Heat Power (British Gas)
Two cheap windows: midnight–7am and 1–4pm. A seven-hour overnight window makes it straightforward to schedule hot water heating without smart controls — a timer is sufficient. British Gas is the largest energy supplier in the UK, which makes this tariff accessible to a large number of existing customers without switching supplier.
EDF Heat Pump & Save Tracker (EDF Energy)
Two cheap windows: 4–7am and 1–4pm. Notably, EDF charges no standing charge on this tariff — unusual in the UK market and worth factoring in if your standing charge on your current tariff is high. The tracker element means rates follow EDF’s underlying cost index rather than being fixed, so they can change. Available to households switching to EDF.
Next Pumped (E.ON Next)
Single off-peak window: 10pm–6am. An eight-hour overnight window with no daytime cheap period. The relatively mild peak rate (25.27p in Region C) makes this the lower-risk choice for households that can’t guarantee avoiding the evening window. Best suited to homes where hot water and background heating can be scheduled overnight.
Why ScottishPower’s Heat Pump Saver isn’t in the table
You won’t see ScottishPower’s Heat Pump Saver above, and it’s worth explaining why. It’s a closed-market retention tariff — you can’t switch to it directly from another supplier. You first have to move your home onto ScottishPower’s standard variable tariff; once your smart meter is live and sending half-hourly data, the Heat Pump Saver unlocks inside your online account. Because it isn’t sold on the open market, ScottishPower’s public quote tool won’t even quote you for this tariff and they don’t publish rate sheets for any of the UK regions either.
What we can say, from what we have been able to find, is that the tariff is unusual — and potentially very good for the right home:
- Off-peak: a flat 14.0p/kWh nationwide, in an 11am–4pm window. A daytime cheap window (not the usual overnight one) makes it a strong fit for households that can shift heat pump load into the middle of the day, especially alongside solar panels.
- Day rate: 30.65–33.54p/kWh across the country. London, with lower distribution costs, likely lands around 31–32p/kWh.
- Standing charge: roughly 45–52p/day for London.
We’ve left it out of the table rather than publish an unverified figure — but if you’re already a ScottishPower customer with a heat pump, it’s well worth checking whether this heat pump tariff is available in your account.
Which tariff suits your home?
The table above shows you the rates. It can’t show you which tariff saves you the most — that depends on your home’s insulation, whether your heat pump is smart-scheduled or runs on auto, your hot water setup, and whether you also have solar panels or an EV.
Our smart tariff checker works through those factors and tells you which tariff is likely to be cheapest for your specific household, with an estimated annual saving.
Check which heat pump tariff is best for your home →
Heat pump tariff frequently asked questions
What is a heat pump tariff?
A heat pump tariff is an electricity tariff with one or more cheap-rate periods designed to align with when a heat pump typically runs. They charge a lower rate during off-peak windows (usually overnight or early afternoon) and a standard or higher rate at other times. For households whose heat pump can be scheduled to run during the cheap window, they can significantly reduce running costs compared with a standard variable tariff.
Do I need a smart meter to get a heat pump tariff?
Yes. All four tariffs in the table above require a smart meter capable of sending half-hourly readings. Most homes in the UK now have one; if you’re not sure, check with your current supplier.
Can I get Cosy Octopus if I don’t have an Octopus heat pump?
Yes. Cosy Octopus is available to any household with a smart meter and electric heating — you don’t need to have an Octopus-installed heat pump to join the tariff.
Is Cosy Octopus the cheapest heat pump tariff?
It has the lowest off-peak rate of the open-market tariffs (13.07p/kWh in most regions), but also the highest peak rate (39.95p/kWh in Region C). Whether it’s cheapest for you depends on how much of your heating load you can shift into its off-peak windows. For homes that can’t avoid running the pump in the 4–7pm peak, a tariff with a milder peak rate — like E.ON Next Pumped — may work out cheaper overall. Use our tariff comparison tool to find which tariff works best for your setup.
What happened to OVO Heat Pump Plus?
OVO closed its Heat Pump Plus tariff in early 2026. Existing customers were moved to OVO’s standard tariff. The four tariffs in the table above are the current open-market alternatives.
Can I have a heat pump tariff and an EV tariff at the same time?
Not on a single meter — you can only be on one tariff per electricity supply. However, some tariffs work well for both uses. Cosy Octopus’s overnight window (10pm–midnight) overlaps with typical EV charging patterns, and if you also have an EV, Intelligent Octopus Go may suit you better than any of the heat-pump-specific tariffs — it includes smart EV charging as well as off-peak heat pump windows.
About this page
Rates shown are for Region C (London) unless you’ve selected a different region above. All rates include VAT at 5%. Standing charges are per day. Data for Octopus Energy, EDF Energy and E.ON Next is drawn from their public Kraken API and refreshed daily. British Gas rates are updated manually on each quarterly price cap date. Independent coverage of Smart Home Energy’s tariff comparison tool: Heat Pump News, July 2026.
