Home all day heating cost
Being home all day can push up your energy bill. Enter your days at home each week, weeks at home and extra time using heating and appliances to estimate weekly, monthly and total extra energy costs.
Ofgem price cap rates for 1 October to 31 December 2026 and power ratings from the Centre for Sustainable Energy, checked 11 November 2026.
Three quick questions
We've assumed
Tap a line to change it.
8 weeks at homeChange
Estimate how many weeks you will be at home while ill or recovering.
Heating on for 4 extra hours a dayChange
Extra time on the electric blanket, kettle and TVChange
Count extra kettle time for drinks and hot water bottles.
The starting power figure is for an LCD TV.
Change power figures
Power figures and unit rates start at published averages, so change them to match your appliances and tariff.
Your energy unit rates
The sums run in your browser. Nothing you enter is saved or sent anywhere.
What your figures show
Choose some heating or add time on an appliance to see the cost.
Extra energy cost for your time at home
This uses a typical home with gas central heating on for 4 extra hours a day, 5 days a week for 8 weeks. Change anything to suit you.
Statutory Sick Pay is £123.25 a week. Your extra energy would use of it each week.
What you can do next
Standing charges are left out because you pay them at home or away.
Help with energy bills while you are ill
You could get a bill discount, payment help or extra support.
Warm Home Discount
£150 off your electricity bill
You may get this one off discount in England and Wales if you got Universal Credit, Housing Benefit, income related ESA or Pension Credit on 23 August 2026. Most people get a letter and need do nothing, but Scotland has different rules.
Priority Services Register
Extra support at no cost
It costs nothing and covers you while recovering from injury, after a hospital stay or with a long term condition. Ask your energy supplier and network operator to add you.
Ask your energy supplier
Payment plans and hardship funds
Ofgem says you can ask your supplier for a payment plan, a payment break or reduction, or help from hardship funds.
Method and sources
How your cost is worked out
- Energy use is power multiplied by extra time. Using 1,000 watts for one hour uses 1 kWh.
- Your daily cost uses your unit rates. Weekly cost is daily cost multiplied by extra days at home.
- Monthly cost uses 52 weeks divided by 12. Total cost is weekly cost multiplied by weeks at home.
- For gas heating we take Ofgem's typical yearly gas use from 1 July 2026 and divide it by the 8,760 hours in a year. That gives about 0.7 kWh an hour for a smaller home (6,000 kWh a year), 1.1 for a typical home (9,500) and 1.6 for a bigger home (14,000). This rough average includes summer and hot water, so your heating may use more in winter.
- Standing charges are left out. Appliances that switch off when warm may use less energy than shown.
- To compare with a typical home your size, we use Ofgem's typical yearly gas and electricity use (electricity 1,600, 2,500 or 3,800 kWh), at the same unit rates, before standing charges.
Rates are Ofgem's Direct Debit price cap averages for England, Scotland and Wales from 1 October to 31 December 2026, with electricity at 26.32p per kWh and gas at 7.97p per kWh including 5% VAT. Electricity has no VAT from 1 October 2026 to 30 June 2027, and Ofgem sets the cap every 3 months.
Average power ratings come from the charity Centre for Sustainable Energy's page reviewed in July 2026, and yours may differ.
| Appliance | Average power |
|---|---|
| Gas central heating | 0.7, 1.1 or 1.6 kWh an hour |
| Electric heater | 2,500 W |
| Electric blanket | 150 W |
| Kettle | 3,000 W |
| TV | 120 W |
| Laptop | 50 W |
Where the figures come from
- Energy price cap unit rates and standing charges Ofgem
- Fuel and power (VAT Notice 701/19) GOV.UK, HM Revenue and Customs
- Review of typical domestic consumption values, decision (27 May 2026) Ofgem
- Statutory Sick Pay, what you'll get GOV.UK
- How much electricity am I using? Centre for Sustainable Energy
- The Warm Home Discount Scheme GOV.UK
- Join your supplier's Priority Services Register Ofgem
- Get help with your home or business energy bills Ofgem
Checked on 11 November 2026.
Built by Paul Gillooly, Founder, PJG Financial. Figures last checked 11 November 2026. Next check when Ofgem sets the price cap from 1 January 2027.
For press and data enquiries, email press@illnesscover.uk.
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This gives information, not advice. Your results are estimates based on the figures you enter.