The Cheapest Way to Heat a Caravan on Electric Hook-Up

If your pitch fee includes electricity, the cheapest way to heat a caravan is electric, by a wide margin, because the marginal cost is zero. If the pitch is metered, the answer changes: it becomes whichever method delivers the heat you actually need at the lowest cost per kilowatt-hour, and that usually means using a low electric setting continuously rather than a high one intermittently.

Here is how the options compare, and how to work out which applies to you.

First, find out how you are billed

This decides everything, and it is worth asking at reception rather than assuming.

A surprising number of UK sites still include electricity in the nightly rate. On those pitches, running a gas bottle down is simply spending money you did not need to spend.

The options, ranked for a hook-up pitch

1. A thermostatic electric fan heater on a low setting

This is the answer for most people most of the time. A ceramic fan heater converts every watt it draws into heat, so it is 100% efficient at the point of use. There is no cheaper electric heater to run than any other electric heater of the same wattage. What varies is how many hours it runs at what setting.

The Ceramic Heater MKK-230 offers 500W, 1,000W and 1,500W with an adjustable thermostat. Held on 500W with the thermostat cycling, it uses 0.5 kWh per hour at most and typically less. The MKK-100 is the simpler two-level option at 750W and 1,500W, and is the cheaper of the two to buy.

2. The caravan's own blown-air system on electric

Most modern vans have a combination heater that will run on 230V, gas, or both. On electric it is typically limited to around 1kW or 2kW. It has the advantage of ducting heat around the whole van rather than one corner, and it usually drives the hot water as well. It draws from the same hook-up allowance, so the same amp arithmetic applies.

3. Gas

Gas delivers far more heat per hour than any 230V appliance can on a UK pitch. Mestic's gas heaters run at 1.4kW, 2.8kW and 4.2kW, and 4.2kW is roughly three times what a 1,500W electric heater can produce. Off-grid, or in a cold awning, that matters.

The costs are the bottle, the refills, carrying and changing them, the ventilation requirement, and the water vapour that flueless gas puts into the van. On a serviced pitch it is usually the more expensive and more inconvenient option. Off-grid it is the only one.

Working out your own number

For electricity the sum is simple. Watts divided by 1,000 gives kilowatts. Multiply by hours to get kWh, then multiply by the metered rate.

Use whatever your site actually charges. The important point is the shape rather than the exact figures: the difference between the lowest and highest setting over a week is substantial, and the thermostat reduces it further because the element switches off once the target temperature is reached.

The mistake that costs the most

Heating hard, then letting the van go cold, then heating hard again. It feels efficient and it is not. Every time the van cools, the walls, floor and furniture cool with it, and you pay to warm all that mass again. Worse, cold surfaces are where condensation forms, so the cycle costs you in damp as well as in kilowatt-hours.

Steady low background heat, with the thermostat doing the work, uses less energy over an evening than repeatedly bringing a cold van back up. It also keeps the van comfortable the whole time rather than in bursts.

Free ways to cut the bill

• Fit thermal window blinds or external covers. Windows are the biggest heat loss route in a caravan by a distance.
• Close the blinds and curtains as soon as it gets dark.
• Use a draught excluder at the door and check the door seal.
• Put a rug down. An uninsulated floor is a constant drain, and it is the surface you are in contact with.
• Pitch with the largest window away from the prevailing wind where the site allows.
• Heat the space you are in. Close off the washroom and the bedroom during the evening rather than heating the whole van.
• Do not dry clothes indoors. Damp air feels colder and costs more to heat.

What about a diesel heater?

Diesel night heaters are popular in campervan conversions and are very cheap per hour of heat, because diesel carries a lot of energy for its cost and the heater is flued so the combustion products go outside. That last point also means no added moisture in the cabin, which is a real advantage over flueless gas.

They are, however, a fitted installation rather than a portable appliance. You need a fuel tank or a tap into the vehicle's own, an exhaust through the floor, an air intake, and a 12V supply. For a self-build campervan that is a reasonable project. For a touring caravan on serviced pitches it is a great deal of work to solve a problem a plug-in heater already solves.

A quick worked example

Take a typical winter weekend: two evenings of four hours each, plus a couple of hours each morning, so around twelve heated hours in total.

The gap between the top and bottom row is the whole point. It is not caused by owning a different heater. It is caused by preparation and by which setting you use.

The short answer

On an inclusive pitch, electric, without hesitation. On a metered pitch, a thermostatic electric heater held on a low setting, backed up by blinds and draught-proofing. Gas when there is no hook-up, or when you need to heat an awning. Whatever you choose, steady and low beats hot and intermittent.

Related reading

• Browse the electric heater range and the gas heater range
• Electric hook-up heating costs vs gas bottle costs
• What you can actually run on a 16A, 10A or 6A hook-up