Gas vs Electric Fire: Which Is Better for Your Home?

Choosing a gas or electric fire comes down to the heat your room needs, the setup your home supports and the atmosphere you want to come home to.

Choosing a gas or electric fire comes down to the heat your room needs, the setup your home supports and the atmosphere you want to come home to. 

Britain gives us plenty of evenings when the living room becomes the heart of the home.  As the nights draw in and the rain taps at the windows, a fire creates a warm, inviting focal point for relaxing with family or unwinding after a long day.

Whether you choose a gas fire or an electric fire depends on several factors, including how much heat you need, what your property can accommodate, installation requirements, and your budget.

In this guide, we compare gas vs electric fires, covering costs, installation, room suitability, appearance, maintenance and energy use, to help you choose the best option for your home.

Contents

• Gas vs Electric Fires: At a Glance
• Gas and Electric Fires: Pros and Considerations
• Costs: Gas vs Electric Fires
• Which Fire Is Best for Your Home: Gas or Electric?
• Which Fire Creates the Right Look and Feeling?
• Installation, Maintenance and Safety of Gas vs Electric Fires
• Energy and Environmental Impact
• What Should You Check Before Buying?
• FAQs

Gas vs Electric Fires: At a Glance

Gas and electric fires take different routes to the same goal: adding warmth and a strong focal point to your room.

Here’s the key differences to consider first.

Gas vs Electric Fires Benefits and Considerations

Both options have plenty going for them. The difference is where their strengths fit into your home and priorities.

Gas Fire Pros

Gas fires combine genuine flame with useful room heat. Benefits include:

• Natural flame movement: Every flame shifts differently, creating the authentic look many people want from a fireplace.
• Strong heating potential: Higher output models can suit rooms that need a more substantial local source of warmth.
• Traditional and contemporary choices: A gas fire can sit within a classic hearth or take a cleaner, more modern inset form.
• A natural fit for some existing fireplaces: Where a suitable gas supply and flue arrangement are already present, you may be able to make good use of the setup you have.

What to Plan for With a Gas Fire

The property needs to support the requirements of the particular appliance. That can mean considering:

• Gas supply
• Chimney or flue arrangement
• Ventilation
• Room requirements
• Professional installation
• Ongoing servicing

A survey before ordering can tell you which gas fires are suitable rather than choosing on looks alone.

Electric Fire Pros

Electric fires give you plenty of freedom over how and where the fireplace becomes part of the room. Benefits include:

• Flexible positioning: There’s no combustion flue to accommodate.
• Independent visual effects: Many models let you operate the flame display separately from the heating function.
• Plenty of design choice: Electric fires can take the form of stoves, inset fires, fireplace suites and wide contemporary displays.
• Straightforward maintenance: There’s no annual gas service to arrange.

What to Plan for With an Electric Fire

The electrical supply and installation still need to suit the chosen model. You should also consider:

• The heat output your room requires
• Your electricity tariff
• Socket position
• Required clearances
• Any building work around inset or feature wall designs

Explore our electric fires once you know the role you want the fireplace to play.

Costs: Gas vs Electric Fires

The price of the fire itself is only one part of the overall cost. Installation, the setup already in your home and the way you plan to use the heater can all influence which option gives you better value.

Upfront Costs

A freestanding electric fire may only need a suitable position and power supply. An inset model can also fit into a compatible opening without bringing an old chimney back into use.

More ambitious electric installations may include:

• New sockets
• Carpentry
• Plastering
• Shelving
• Concealed cables

In that case, you’re budgeting for a wider interiors project rather than the fire alone.

A gas installation may involve:

• New or adjusted supply pipework
• Changes to the fireplace opening
• Ventilation work
• Chimney or flue checks and alterations

The amount of work will depend on what already exists and whether it’s suitable for your chosen appliance.

Ask for quotes based on the completed installation. It’s much more useful than comparing two appliance prices without knowing what has to happen around them.

Which Is Cheaper to Run?

Gas will often have the lower heating cost per kWh in the UK, while electricity gives you the option of controlling a smaller source of room heat independently. Your actual running cost depends on your tariff, appliance input and how long you use it.

Energy prices change regularly, so fixed pence-per-hour figures can date quickly. Ofgem updates its energy price cap every three months, and rates vary according to factors such as region, payment method and meter type.

For the latest figures, check Ofgem’s current energy unit rates and standing charges.

You can then estimate the cost of either fire with a simple calculation:

Appliance input in kW × your energy price per kWh × hours used

For a gas fire, use its gas input rather than the useful heat output. The output tells you how much warmth the appliance delivers to the room.

There are a few other costs worth keeping in mind:

• Electric flame effects: The display uses less power than running the heater, although the exact wattage varies by fire.
• Gas efficiency: Compare the input, useful heat output and efficiency of the model you’re considering.
• Gas standing charges: These matter more if the fire would be the only reason your home remains connected to gas.

Think about a normal week rather than one bitterly cold evening. A fire running for several hours every night will influence your bills differently from one you switch on occasionally when the room needs an extra lift.

Which Fire Is Best for Your Home: Gas or Electric?

The right fire depends on the property as much as personal preference. Room size, insulation, glazing and the heating already in place all affect what will work well.

Best Fire for Larger or Draughtier Living Rooms

A gas fire can be a strong choice when the room needs a more substantial local heat source.

Think of an older front room with high ceilings, external walls or a bay window that always seems to keep hold of a little winter chill. A suitable gas fire can add meaningful warmth where the family gathers after tea without changing the temperature of rooms nobody is using.

An electric fire can play a supporting role where the central heating already maintains the background temperature.

Best Fire for Smaller or Well-Insulated Rooms

Electric fires can work particularly well when you only need targeted warmth for part of the day.

That might be a home office where you’re sitting still through the afternoon or a small snug used for reading once the rest of the house has gone quiet. Energy Saving Trust notes that secondary electric heating can be useful when you want to warm one room for a short period or need extra heat during colder spells.

For more information, see Energy Saving Trust’s electric heating guidance.

A correctly sized gas model can work in the same sort of room when the property supports it. The important thing is choosing output around the space rather than assuming bigger automatically means better.

Best Fire for Flats, New Builds and Rented Homes

Electric fires can give a room the shape and character of a fireplace even when there was never a chimney breast to begin with.

That can be especially useful in a first flat or new-build lounge where the furniture feels as though it’s floating around a blank wall. A wall-mounted design, electric stove or fireplace suite can give the room a clear visual centre.

If you rent, get permission before making permanent alterations. A freestanding model can be particularly appealing when you’d rather have something that can move home with you later.

Best Fire for Period Properties

An original fireplace gives you the opportunity to celebrate a feature that already belongs to the architecture.

A compatible gas fire can return an active flame to the hearth. An inset electric fire offers another way to make use of the opening when the old chimney is no longer part of the heating setup.

Have an existing chimney assessed before relying on it. Its age or previous use doesn’t guarantee that it remains suitable for a new gas appliance.

Best Fire for Homes Without a Chimney

An electric fire doesn’t rely on a chimney or combustion flue.

A traditional chimney isn’t essential for every gas fire either. Different models have different flue and ventilation arrangements, so have the property assessed before deciding which route is available.

Gas Safe Register advises keeping required ventilation clear and using an engineer who is qualified for the particular gas work involved.

Best Fire for Media Walls

Electric fires are a natural fit for many media wall projects because the fire, television and storage can be planned as one feature.

Decide where sockets, cables and ventilation need to go before the wall is built. Finding out afterwards that the television lead needs to cross fresh plaster is the sort of small mistake that becomes surprisingly irritating.

Always follow the clearance instructions supplied with both the television and the fire.

Which Fire Creates the Right Look and Feeling?

A fireplace changes how a room feels as well as how warm it is. Light and movement naturally give the eye somewhere to settle, which can make the fireplace the point the rest of the room seems to gather around.

Fire also comes with familiar associations. Think of sitting around a campfire once the sun has disappeared, a stove glowing inside a log cabin or coming indoors after a long walk and warming your hands before you’ve even taken your boots off.

You don’t need to live in the woods to borrow some of that feeling.

The Character of a Gas Fire

A genuine flame constantly changes shape.

It rises, dips and moves across the fuel bed without following a visible pattern. That natural variation can work beautifully with a mantelpiece, timber furniture and deeper colours, while cleaner inset designs bring the same flame movement into contemporary spaces.

For anyone who grew up with a working fireplace, there can also be something reassuringly familiar about seeing an actual flame where they expect one to be.

The Freedom of an Electric Fire

An electric fire gives you more control over the visual mood.

Depending on the model, you may be able to adjust flame brightness, colours or fuel bed lighting. Logs and coals lean into a traditional look, while crystals and illuminated beds can take the room somewhere much more modern.

A stove shaped model can bring a little cabin character to an unused opening. A landscape fire can become a clean architectural line across a more contemporary room.

Controls That Fit Everyday Life

Features matter most when they make an ordinary evening easier.

Selected gas and electric fires offer remote controls, while electric models may also include timers, thermostats and adjustable heat or lighting settings.

A remote can seem like a small extra until you’re under a blanket, the cat has fallen asleep on your lap and getting up would ruin the entire arrangement.

Choose controls everyone in the household can understand. A long list of clever settings isn’t much use when the one you want requires the instruction manual every time.

Installation, Maintenance and Safety of Gas vs Electric Fires

Gas and electric fires need different forms of care. The key requirements should be clear before the appliance reaches your home.

Gas Fire Installation and Care

Important: Only an appropriately qualified Gas Safe registered engineer should install, service or repair a gas fire.

Before and after installation:

• Check that the engineer is Gas Safe registered and qualified for the specific work.
• Have the supply, appliance position, ventilation and flue assessed.
• Keep required permanent ventilation clear.
• Arrange an annual gas safety check.
• Service the fire in line with the manufacturer’s guidance.
• Install and maintain a suitable audible carbon monoxide alarm.

Gas Safe Register advises annual gas safety checks and says vents should remain unobstructed. It also recommends a working carbon monoxide alarm as an additional safeguard.

See Gas Safe Register’s gas safety advice for further guidance.

Adding the fire to the same calendar reminder as your boiler service can make the annual check much harder to forget.

 Electric Fire Installation and Care

Important: Follow the fire’s installation instructions and use appropriate professional electrical help when the model needs hardwiring, new sockets or other electrical work.

For safe everyday use:

• Keep plugs, cables, sockets and air vents in good condition.
• Keep the heater outlet clear of furniture and other combustible materials.
• Don’t use an electric heater to dry clothes.
• Avoid powering an electric heater through an extension lead.
• Stop using the appliance if you notice scorching, unusual heat, buzzing, crackling or repeated circuit trips.

Electrical Safety First warns that heaters can overload extension leads and advises keeping them clear of combustible materials. It also recommends stopping use when plugs or sockets show signs such as burn marks, excessive heat or arcing sounds.

Read Electrical Safety First’s heater safety advice for more information.

Fireplace Safety for Children and Pets

Give the fire enough breathing room for the busiest version of your household.

Glass, grilles, surfaces and warm air outlets can become hot, depending on the appliance. Follow the manufacturer’s guidance on guards and clearances, particularly where children carrying toys or excited pets are likely to race through the room.

A fireplace should sit naturally within the layout rather than creating a hot pinch point between the sofa, coffee table and doorway.

Energy and Environmental Impact of Gas vs Electric Fires

Gas and electric fires have different environmental considerations. The appliance, fuel source and way you heat the rest of your home all affect the bigger picture.

Gas Fires

• Natural gas is a fossil fuel.
• Efficiency varies between appliances.
• The efficiency rating helps you understand how much of the energy consumed becomes useful room heat.

Electric Fires

• They don’t create combustion emissions inside the room.
• Their wider carbon impact depends on how the electricity supplying your home has been generated.
• Britain’s electricity supply is becoming lower carbon as more renewable generation enters the grid.

For Either Fuel Type

Reducing unnecessary heat loss helps whichever fire you choose.

Good insulation and draught proofing give warmth less opportunity to escape, helping the room stay comfortable rather than feeling the chill creep back around your feet halfway through a film.

You can explore more ways to heat your home in our wider heating collection.

What Should You Check Before Buying a New Fire?

A good fire needs to fit the structure, proportions and routines of the room.

Before ordering:

• Measure the full installation area. Record the height, width and depth of the opening, recess or wall.
• Map the surrounding room. Mark sockets, skirting boards, shelves, doors and fixed furniture.
• Photograph what’s already there. Clear photos can help an installer understand an existing opening, gas point or chimney breast.
• Read the installation requirements. Check recess dimensions, ventilation and clearances before committing.
• Mark out the size on the wall. Masking tape is a simple way to see whether the fire looks properly proportioned from the sofa.
• Check the delivery route. Measure tight hallways, doors and stairs if you’re ordering a large suite or landscape model.
• Keep some budget in reserve. Older fireplaces can reveal extra work once surrounds or coverings come away.
• Inspect everything before fitting. Check the fire and supplied parts before installation starts.

A few measurements now are much easier than discovering later that the recess is too shallow or your new surround lands directly over the only useful socket.

To Summarise

Still not sure? Use these final points to see which option sounds most like your project.

Choose a Gas Fire if:

• You want genuine flames to be a central part of the fireplace.
• The room needs a stronger source of local heat.
• Your property has, or can support, the appropriate gas and flue arrangement.
• You’re comfortable including professional servicing in your household maintenance.

Choose an Electric Fire if:

• Flexible positioning is important to your plans.
• You want a stove, suite or landscape feature without relying on a working chimney.
• Independent control over the visual effect appeals to you.
• Straightforward ongoing care is high on your list.

Gas or Electric Fire FAQs

Do Electric Fires Make Noise?

Some electric fires use a fan to distribute warm air, so you may hear a gentle fan sound when the heater is running. The amount of noise varies between models.

If a quiet room matters to you, particularly for reading or watching television at lower volume, check the product information and reviews before buying.

Can a New Fireplace Add Value to Your Home?

A well-planned fireplace can make a living room more appealing by giving the layout a clear focal point and helping the space feel finished.

There’s no reliable amount that a gas or electric fire will automatically add to a property’s value, though. Choose a fireplace because it works for your home rather than treating it as a guaranteed financial return.

Do You Need Planning Permission for a Gas or Electric Fire?

An internal fireplace project won’t always need planning permission, but work involving an external chimney or flue can bring additional requirements.

In England, the Planning Portal says fitting or replacing an external flue or chimney will often fall under permitted development when certain conditions are met. Different rules can apply to flats, listed buildings and designated areas, and planning rules vary around the UK, so check with your local authority when your project changes the exterior of the property.

See the Planning Portal guidance on flues and chimneys for more information.

Find Your Perfect Gas or Electric Fire

Once you know what your room needs, explore our full collection of fires and fireplaces to find a design that works with your home.

Our inspiration, DIY and buying guides can help with the wider project too, from working out the layout to choosing the details that make the finished space feel like yours.

Know someone else weighing up an electric fire or gas fire during a renovation? Share this guide with them before the work begins. It could save them from learning the expensive parts through trial and error.