British Gas Heat Power

British Gas Heat Power, a time-of-use electricity tariff that halves the unit rate for ten hours a day and refunds the discount as a weekly credit, covering eligibility, rates, switching, the PeakSave interaction and how it compares with other heat pump tariffs.

Tariff availability, rates and terms were checked on 22 July 2026. They are a dated snapshot, so confirm the address-specific quote before acting.

British Gas Heat Power is a time-of-use electricity tariff that halves the unit rate for ten hours a day, split across two windows: midnight to 7am and 1pm to 4pm. That comes to 70 hours a week at half price. The discount is 50 per cent of the customer’s standard unit rate rather than a fixed price per kWh, so the exact off-peak rate depends on the region and the prevailing Ofgem price cap. Outside the two windows the standard rate applies, with no premium peak rate above it. British Gas, the UK’s largest energy supplier, offers the tariff to homes with a heat pump, electric heating, an EV or a home storage battery.

How the half-price discount reaches the bill

The half price is not shown as a lower rate at the meter. The customer pays the standard unit rate for every unit used, including the units used during the two windows. British Gas then works out the off-peak usage each week and applies a Heat Power Credit to the account, refunding 50 per cent of what was spent during the cheap windows. The credit is itemised on the electricity bill.

Because the tariff runs on Direct Debit, the monthly payment is set independently of these weekly credits. The credits reduce the account balance rather than the monthly Direct Debit figure directly. Heat Power is Direct Debit only and is not open to prepayment meter customers.

What the off-peak rate actually is

Because the off-peak rate is half the standard rate, and the standard rate moves with the region and contract, there is no single UK-wide pence-per-kWh figure. The July 2026 price-cap average electricity unit rate was 26.11p/kWh, which would make half price about 13.06p/kWh, but a Heat Power quote can differ from that national illustration. Check the rate and standing charge for the address before switching.

Eligibility and the SMETS2 requirement

Heat Power needs a British Gas electricity account, so a customer either switches to British Gas or is already with them. Only the electricity supply has to move; gas can stay with the current supplier.

The property must have one of four things: a heat pump, an electric heating system, an EV or a home storage battery. Where a heat pump is the qualifying device, British Gas verifies that it is installed at the address. Hive smart home products are not required, despite the tariff being marketed alongside them.

The meter must be a SMETS2 (Smart Metering Equipment Technical Specifications version 2) smart meter, or a SMETS1 (the first-generation specification) meter that has been enrolled with the Data Communications Company (DCC), sending half-hourly readings. If the meter stops sending readings for 30 days or more, the account moves to the Standard Variable Tariff, which ends the half-price windows until the metering is restored.

Switching over and when the windows start

For an existing British Gas customer, the switch is made in the online account and the new tariff starts within 24 hours. A new customer moving from another supplier takes about five working days, then a further one to two weeks before the half-hourly rates activate on the smart meter. New customers have a 14-day cooling-off period.

Heat Power is a fixed tariff, typically a 12-month term, with rates held for the term. There is no exit fee, and a customer can move to another British Gas fixed tariff at any time without a charge.

Joining Heat Power switches off PeakSave

PeakSave gives any British Gas electricity customer with a smart meter half-price electricity on Sundays from 11am to 4pm, whatever their tariff. Signing up for Heat Power removes the customer from PeakSave automatically; the two do not run together. The opt-in PeakSave Green Flex events, which offer half-price sessions when renewable generation is high, also stop. A customer who later leaves Heat Power can rejoin PeakSave.

British Gas also runs a separate Samsung Weekend Saver Fix tariff, launched in November 2025, which adds half-price electricity on Saturdays from 11am to 4pm for customers who own or buy an eligible Samsung product. It is a different tariff from Heat Power rather than an add-on to it.

How the off-peak rate compares with other heat pump tariffs

The table below is a July 2026 snapshot. Rates move with the price cap and by region, so treat the figures as indicative.

Tariff	Off-peak hours per day	Off-peak rate	Peak rate	Exit fee
British Gas Heat Power	10 (00:00-07:00, 13:00-16:00)	Half of the quoted standard rate	Quoted standard rate, no premium	None
Octopus Cosy	8 (04:00-07:00, 13:00-16:00, 22:00-00:00)	51% below its day rate	50% above its day rate (16:00-19:00)	Check current fixed offer
E.ON Next Pumped	21 (8 super off-peak plus 13 off-peak)	~16.9p super / ~21.3p off-peak	~39.85p	None
EDF Heat Pump Tracker	6 (04:00-07:00, 13:00-16:00)	Standard minus 10p (~14.9p)	Standard rate	None
Good Energy Heat Pump	8 (05:00-09:00, 13:00-16:00)	~14p	~30.59p	None

Heat Power’s trade-off is that it adds no premium peak rate. EDF’s Heat Pump Tracker takes a fixed amount off its regional standard rate during its cheap windows, while Octopus Cosy prices its 16:00 to 19:00 peak above the day rate. On Heat Power the rate outside the cheap hours is simply the quoted standard rate. Live postcode prices are needed for a fair comparison.

Who Heat Power suits best

The absence of a peak rate makes Heat Power a fit for households that cannot reliably keep off electricity at a fixed evening peak. A large hot water cylinder, 250 litres or more, benefits from the seven-hour overnight window, which is long enough for a full reheat. Homes with an EV or a battery can complete a full charge in the same overnight block. Heat pump households already with British Gas avoid a supplier switch, a switching delay and a new Direct Debit setup. Homes using Hive thermostats and hot water controls can schedule around the windows through the Hive app, though Hive is optional.

Some heat pump owners on community forums report poor customer service from British Gas and difficulty getting clear pricing, with some agents unfamiliar with the tariff. That is anecdotal rather than measured, but it recurs often enough to be worth a call to confirm the current rate for your region before committing.

Shifting usage into the cheap windows

British Gas advises running the heat pump steadily rather than switching it off at peak times, since a heat pump is most efficient running continuously. Lowering the thermostat by 1 to 2C during peak hours and raising it by the same during off-peak is enough. Hot water is best heated early in the morning, with a top-up between 1pm and 4pm if needed. Washing machines, dishwashers and tumble dryers run more cheaply inside the windows, and an EV or home battery charges overnight.

How much a household saves depends on its regional rates, standing charge and the share of heat-pump and other electricity use that can genuinely move into the discounted windows. The sound comparison applies both tariffs to the household’s own half-hourly consumption rather than borrowing a model-home saving.

The 14p first-year offer and the naming confusion

In May 2024 British Gas launched a reduced-rate heat pump tariff at a flat 14p per kWh for the first year, open only to British Gas customers who bought an air source heat pump from British Gas. It claimed savings of up to £450 against a D-rated gas boiler. That flat first-year rate appears to be a separate, earlier product from the current Heat Power time-of-use tariff.

The two structures explain a common source of confusion. Comparison sites sometimes list a “British Gas Heat Pump Tariff” as a single flat rate, around 14.5p per kWh, which does not match the half-price time-of-use structure British Gas describes on its own tariff page. A flat figure like that is either the older first-year product or a blended average across the day, not the two-window credit tariff. British Gas uses “Heat pump tariff” and “Heat Power” for the current product.

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