Heating remains expensive – and the price gap between electricity and gas remains large.
The latest figures from the Federal Statistical Office for the second half of 2024 also show that switching to fan heaters and other electric radiators as an alternative to gas heating is still not worthwhile for consumers.
Electricity costs for electronic radiators remain significantly higher than gas costs
The data from the Federal Statistical Office from March 31, 2025 continues to show the significant price difference between electricity and gas. In the second half of 2024, German households paid an average of 41.20 cents per kWh of electricity, while a kWh of gas cost just 12.28 cents – a ratio of more than 3:1 in favor of gas.
A simple example calculation illustrates the financial impact: A fan heater with 2,000 watts of power that runs for five hours a day at maximum power consumes 10 kWh per day. At the current electricity prices of 41.20 cents per kWh, this results in costs of 4.12 euros per day or 123.60 euros per month – and that’s just for a single room and not even for all-day heating.
Price scales: Small amounts of electricity are particularly expensive
The official data also shows that households with very low annual consumption pay particularly high electricity prices per kilowatt hour. In the segment below 1,000 kWh per year, the total price was 58.87 cents per kWh. The typical range of 2,500-5,000 kWh per year was 39.43 cents per kWh, while 5,000-15,000 kWh per year was 36.14 cents per kWh. So if you only heat a few rooms electrically “selectively”, you will quickly end up in the high tariff zones in terms of price.
There are also consumption groups for gas: under 20 GJ annual consumption a kilowatt hour cost 15.95 cents, with 20-200 GJ 12.38 cents; Households overall were at 12.28 cents per kWh. This means that the price advantage of gas over electricity remains even in the more expensive small consumption group.
Classification of development
Compared to the first half of 2024, gas prices for private households rose by 3.5 percent, while electricity prices rose slightly by 0.4 percent. In the Destatis analysis, the sales tax, which has been raised back to the standard rate (from April 2024) and higher network fees, are cited as drivers.
Saving energy remains the most economical option
The numbers confirm: Instead of switching to expensive electric heaters, it is still worthwhile to stick with your existing gas heater and save energy instead. As the consumer advice center confirms, lowering the room temperature by just one degree Celsius can reduce the heat requirement by around six percent. Additional savings measures such as shorter showers, avoiding full baths or a professional heating check can further reduce the gas bill.
Conclusion: Fan heaters only make sense for specific applications
Despite electricity prices falling slightly compared to the previous year, the cost difference between electricity and gas heating remains enormous. Fan heaters and similar electrical devices are therefore only suitable for very specific applications: for example, for briefly warming up individual rooms such as the bathroom in the morning or as an emergency reserve in the event of a complete gas failure. For the basic supply of heat, they are not an economical alternative to gas heating due to the high operating costs.
D. Maier / editorial team finanzen.net