Electric Underfloor Heating Running Costs in Bournemouth
Electric underfloor heating running costs are the first thing most people ask us about, usually right after they've stood barefoot on a warm bathroom floor somewhere and decided they want one. The answer depends on the room, what's underneath the mat and how you use it, but it's nearly always less than people expect. Here's how the numbers work out at this winter's electricity prices, based on the floors we fit in homes across Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch.
What it costs to run, in pence per day
Since 1 October 2026 the Ofgem price cap for electricity has been 26.32p per kWh if you pay by direct debit, before the standing charge (which you pay whether the floor is on or not). That's the rate we've used below. If you're on a fixed or time-of-use tariff, swap in your own figure.
Heating mats are rated in watts per square metre. Most bathroom mats we lay are 150W/m². In a kitchen or living space we normally use 100W/m², because the floor is doing more of the room's heating and runs for longer at a gentler output.
Ensuite or small bathroom, 4m² at 150W/m² (0.6kW): two hours a day costs about 32p, or roughly £2.20 a week.
Family bathroom, 6m² (0.9kW): two hours a day is about 47p.
Kitchen diner, 20m² at 100W/m² (2kW): four hours a day is about £2.11.
Those are worst-case figures, because they assume the mat draws full power the whole time it's switched on. It doesn't. Once the floor reaches temperature the thermostat cycles it on and off, so on a properly insulated floor the real draw is noticeably lower. Over an October-to-March heating season, a 4m² ensuite used morning and evening typically comes in at around £40 to £60 a year. That's roughly the price of a couple of takeaways for a whole winter of warm floors.
Why the insulation underneath matters more than the mat
This is where we see the biggest gap between a floor that's cheap to run and one that isn't. Lay a heating mat straight onto a cold concrete slab, which is common in the 1930s semis around Winton, Moordown and Parkstone, and a good share of the heat disappears downwards before it ever reaches your feet. The thermostat keeps the mat on longer to make up for it, and the bill creeps up.
We put insulation boards under every electric system we fit, usually 6mm to 10mm thick depending on how much height the room can spare against door thresholds and the shower tray. It adds a little to the job and means the floor warms up in a fraction of the time. On suspended timber floors, which you'll find in plenty of Victorian and Edwardian terraces in Boscombe and Southbourne, we insulate between the joists first. That's worth doing anyway.
The other piece is a smart thermostat with a floor probe. Setting the floor to come on half an hour before you get up, rather than leaving it running on a dial, is the easiest saving there is.
Electric or water-based: which is cheaper to run?
Per unit of heat, electricity currently costs more than three times as much as gas (the gas cap rate is 7.97p per kWh). So if you're heating a whole ground floor for hours every day, a water-based system running off a boiler or, better still, a heat pump will be cheaper to run. We went through that side in our guide to heat pump-ready underfloor heating.
Electric wins on install cost and disruption. There's no pipework, no manifold and no screed to dry out, and it only adds a few millimetres to the floor height. For a bathroom, ensuite, cloakroom or small kitchen, where the floor is on for a couple of hours a day, the difference in running cost is a few pounds a month at most, and electric is almost always the right call. For an extension or open-plan space where the floor is going to be the main heat source, we'd usually point you towards a wet system instead.
What we charge to install electric underfloor heating
Running costs are only half of it. These are typical prices from us for the underfloor heating part of a job in Bournemouth and Poole, covering insulation boards, the heating mat, a smart thermostat and the certified electrical connection. Tiling and any floor levelling are extra, and we price those once we've seen the subfloor.
Ensuite or small bathroom (3 to 5m²): around £750 to £1,450
Family bathroom (about 6m²): around £950 to £1,700
Kitchen (10 to 15m²): around £1,800 to £3,600
Kitchen diner or open-plan room (about 25m²): around £3,000 to £5,400
Older houses tend to sit at the top of those ranges, because uneven floors need levelling and there's often a consumer unit question to sort out first. If your fuse board has no RCD protection it'll need upgrading before we can connect a new heating circuit. The final connection is done by our own registered electrician and certified under Part P, so you've got the paperwork for building control and for when you sell. For a fuller picture of wet and electric systems side by side, see our underfloor heating cost guide.
Most of our electric underfloor heating goes in as part of a bathroom, kitchen or heating refit, but we're happy to do it on its own too. We always survey before quoting. It's a short visit where we check the subfloor, measure the clear floor area (there's no point heating under a bath or kitchen units) and look at the consumer unit, so the written price you get is the price you pay.
Related reading
Want a warm floor before the cold sets in?
A bathroom underfloor heating job on its own usually takes us one to two days, so it's a realistic one to get done this winter. If you're in Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch or anywhere else across Dorset and Hampshire, book a survey visit with Complete Builds and we'll look at the room and give you a clear written price.
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