Run your home on electricity

What's involved in moving your heating, cooking and car off gas, oil and petrol, and what can go wrong. The tools work out what it would mean for your own home.

Try the tools Where to start

Start from where you are

• My boiler is getting oldPlan the switch before it breaks
• I want to know about grantsWhich schemes you might get, from your postcode
• I want to see what an all-electric home looks likeA 3D house with everything switched over
• I'm wondering what a heat pump is likeHow it works, what it sounds like, where it goes
• I'm getting an electric carCharging at home, and the tariff to charge on
• I want lower bills this winterThe cheap jobs that help whatever heats the home

One part of the house at a time

Each of these can switch from gas, oil or petrol to electricity on its own, in any order. Most homes do it over several years. Heating uses most of the energy in a typical home, so it is the biggest change.

• Heating

  A heat pump replaces a gas, oil or LPG boiler and runs your radiators, though some may need to be larger.

• Hot water

  A heat pump heats a cylinder. With a combi boiler you'll need room for one, or a heat battery.

• Cooking

  An induction hob heats the pan directly. A plug-in single ring lets you try one first.

• Car charging

  Charging on your own drive overnight is usually the cheapest way to run an electric car.

• Solar and batteries

  Panels make some of your own electricity, and a battery stores it, or cheap overnight electricity, for later.

• Tariffs, meters and your supply

  Tariffs with cheaper hours, smart meters, your main fuse and closing the gas account.

• Insulation and draughts

  The cheap jobs help whatever heats the house. You don't have to finish them first.

See it all in one house

The 3D house tour is an ordinary 1930s semi with every one of these changes made. Take the guided tour, or pick a room and look around.

Where to start

1. Plan the heating before the boiler fails

   A heat pump takes a few weeks to survey, design and fit. A boiler that breaks in January is usually replaced with another boiler that week. The boiler escape plan works out when to switch.

2. Check which grants you could get

   Grants cover some or all of the cost for many households, depending on where you live, your income and whether you own your home. The grant finder shows which you might get today.

3. Look at your meter and tariff

   Once the heating or car runs on electricity, a tariff with cheaper hours makes the biggest difference to running costs. Most need a smart meter.

4. Change the hob when it suits you

   It doesn't depend on anything else, and a plug-in ring lets you try induction first.

5. Add solar panels and a battery

   If your roof gets sun, panels and a battery cut the electricity you buy, which matters more once the heating runs on it.

6. Charge the car at home

   When you next change car, charging on the drive is usually the cheapest way to run it.

Your home's energy performance certificate (EPC) records the heating and insulation an assessor found. Search the register for England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. Draught-proofing and topping up the loft help whatever heats the home, and you don't need to finish insulating before anything else.

Before you pay anyone

• Paying for it

  Grant schemes in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and offers to avoid.

• Choosing an installer

  What a heat pump quote should include, and what to ask the installer.

About the tools

The tools are made by KarbonKit, and councils, installers and community energy groups put the same tools on their own websites for free. This site embeds them the same way, and KarbonKit uses it to test them. If you run a website, here is how to put them on yours.