Storage Heater Costs UK — What to Charge to Supply and Fit Electric Storage Heaters in 2026

Storage Heater Types and What They Cost to Supply

Not all storage heaters are the same, and the unit you specify drives both your material cost and the price you can reasonably charge. The market splits broadly into older-style basic units, modern fan-assisted models and full high-heat-retention (HHR) heaters. Here's a breakdown with current UK supply prices.

Basic / Manual Storage Heaters

The cheapest units are traditional manual storage heaters with input and output dials and no fan or smart control. They charge up on the off-peak rate overnight and leak heat throughout the day whether the room is occupied or not. They are still sold and still specified on tight budgets, but they are increasingly viewed as inefficient and are not Lot 20 compliant in the form many older models took.

• Basic manual unit (supply): £150–£350
• Best suited to: budget jobs, like-for-like swaps where the customer won't pay for HHR

High-Heat-Retention (HHR) Storage Heaters

Modern HHR heaters use higher-density ceramic bricks, much heavier insulation and a fan to release stored heat on demand rather than leaking it constantly. They hold their charge far longer into the evening, which is when most households actually want the heat. All new storage heaters must meet the Lot 20 ecodesign rules, and HHR models with programmable controls are the standard specification for almost every new install in 2026.

This is the unit most customers should be steered toward. The brands you'll see most often are Dimplex Quantum, Elnur Ecombi and Creda TSR-E. They cost more to buy but justify a higher install price and a far better customer outcome.

• HHR unit (supply): £400–£900
• Larger high-output room units: toward the top of that range
• Per m²: not applicable — storage heaters are priced per unit, not by area

Price toward the top of this range for high-output models, smart-controlled units and jobs in affluent areas or properties where access is awkward. The premium over a basic unit is easy to justify to the customer once you explain how much off-peak electricity an old leaky heater wastes during the day.

Labour: What to Charge to Fit

The labour element of a storage heater job depends almost entirely on whether you are doing a straight like-for-like swap or running new circuits. A like-for-like swap — same position, existing dedicated circuit, existing wiring sound — is quick work for a competent electrician.

Like-for-Like Swap

Where there is already a dedicated storage heater circuit on the off-peak supply and you are simply removing the old unit and mounting and connecting a new one, the labour is straightforward. The bulk of the time is the physical handling — storage heaters are heavy, and HHR units with their dense ceramic cores are heavier still. Bricks are usually shipped separately and loaded on site, which helps with the lift but adds time.

• Labour to swap one like-for-like heater: £100–£200 each
• Multiple units on the same visit: rate per unit usually drops

When you're fitting several heaters in one visit you should set up, test the supply and dispose of old units once rather than per heater, so quote a sharper per-unit labour figure for a whole-house job than you would for a single swap.

New Circuit and Consumer Unit Work

If there is no dedicated circuit — common in properties moving from a different heating system, or where an old heater was wired badly — you're into chasing or surface-running new cable, adding a way to the consumer unit and potentially upgrading the board. This is chargeable work on top of the swap and should never be absorbed into a headline per-unit price.

• New radial circuit to a heater position: £150–£400 per circuit depending on run and access
• Consumer unit upgrade (where required): £450–£900
• Economy 7 meter / dual-rate supply changes: arranged via the supplier/DNO, not your labour to bill but flag the lead time

Full-House Replacements

Most storage heater work that comes in as a single enquiry is actually a whole-house job — the customer has a flat or house full of tired old units and wants them all swapped at once. A typical property runs four to six heaters: usually a large output unit in the living room, smaller units in bedrooms and a panel heater or a small storage heater on the landing or hall.

For a straightforward like-for-like replacement of four to six HHR units, with existing circuits sound and no asbestos complications, expect the supplied-and-fitted total to land in the following range:

• Full house of 4–6 HHR heaters, supplied and fitted: £2,500–£5,000
• Same job with basic units instead of HHR: noticeably less, but a poorer outcome
• Add new circuits, board upgrade or asbestos removal: extra on top

Quote the units and the labour as clear separate lines. Customers understand that the heaters themselves are a fixed material cost, and separating them lets you show value rather than being undercut by an operator who lumps everything into one vague figure and skimps on the spec.

The Asbestos Warning on Old Storage Heaters

This is the single most important thing for any electrician to understand before touching old storage heaters. Many Economy 7 storage heaters manufactured before 1974 — and some into the mid-1970s — contained asbestos as insulation around the heating elements and within the casing. Disturbing, drilling, breaking up or dismantling these units can release asbestos fibres.

You cannot tell for certain whether an old unit contains asbestos just by looking at it. If you encounter pre-1974 storage heaters, or any unit you suspect, the safe position is:

• Do not break the unit up on site to make it easier to carry out
• Treat suspect units as presumed asbestos-containing until proven otherwise
• Removal and disposal of confirmed asbestos units is work for a licensed asbestos contractor — not something to bury inside your install price
• Allow for a separate survey or sampling cost, and factor in the lead time before you can complete the swap

Removing and disposing of old units adds cost regardless, and where asbestos is involved that cost rises sharply and must go to a licensed specialist. Make this a clearly stated exclusion or provisional sum in your quote rather than a surprise on the day. It protects you legally, protects the customer, and protects your margin from being eaten by an unbudgeted specialist call-out.

What Affects the Price

Two storage heater jobs that look identical on paper can carry very different costs. Before you commit a price, weigh the following factors — each one moves your number up or down.

• HHR vs basic units: The biggest single material variable. HHR at £400–£900 a unit versus a basic heater at £150–£350 changes a whole-house quote by well over a thousand pounds.
• Number of heaters: Per-unit labour falls on multi-heater jobs because setup, testing and disposal are shared across the visit. Single swaps carry the full overhead.
• Economy 7 vs single-rate supply: Storage heaters need an off-peak supply to make economic sense. If the property is on a single-rate tariff with no off-peak circuit, the customer needs an Economy 7 meter and the heaters wired to the controlled supply — flag the supplier lead time.
• Wiring condition: Sound existing circuits make for a clean swap. No circuit, or unsafe old wiring, means new cabling and possibly board work.
• Asbestos in old units: Pre-1974 heaters may need a licensed contractor for removal — a significant and often overlooked cost.
• Access: Storage heaters are heavy. Upstairs rooms, tight stairwells, flats above ground level and awkward parking all add handling time.

Supply-Only vs Supply-and-Fit

Some customers — particularly landlords and the more capable DIY crowd — ask for supply-only, intending to fit the heaters themselves or use a cheaper handyman. You can do this, but be clear about what you're taking on and what you're not.

On supply-only you make a margin on the unit and walk away with no installation liability, but you also give up the labour, which is where the better margin usually sits. Connecting a storage heater to a fixed circuit is notifiable electrical work and the customer needs a competent person to do it — make sure they understand that before you hand over a box.

Supply-and-fit is almost always the better offering for both you and the customer. You control the spec, you control the quality of the install, you carry the certification, and you capture the full value of the job. Lead with supply-and-fit and treat supply-only as the exception, not the default.

Day Rate vs Per-Unit Quoting

There are two sensible ways to price the labour on storage heater work: a day rate, or a fixed price per unit. Both work — the right choice depends on how predictable the job is.

A typical electrician day rate in 2026 sits around £200–£300 per day, higher in London and the South East. For a clean whole-house swap with known circuits, you can usually fit four to six like-for-like HHR units in a day or so, which makes a day-rate calculation easy to sanity-check against a per-unit quote.

Per-unit pricing (£100–£200 labour per like-for-like swap) is cleaner for the customer and rewards you for working efficiently. Day rate protects you on jobs where you can't see what's behind the old units until you pull them off the wall — old wiring, hidden damp, suspect asbestos. The safe approach on an unknown property is a per-unit price for the swap plus a clearly stated day rate or provisional sum for any remedial work uncovered once you start.

Quoting Tips — How to Price Profitably

Storage heater quotes go wrong when the electrician prices off the customer's description down the phone rather than a proper look at the property. Before you commit a price, check the following:

• Age of the existing units: Anything pre-1974 is a potential asbestos job. Identify it before quoting, not on removal day.
• Existing circuits and tariff: Confirm there's a dedicated off-peak circuit and an Economy 7 (or equivalent dual-rate) supply. No off-peak supply changes the whole job.
• Consumer unit condition: An old rewireable or part-populated board may need upgrading before you can add heater circuits.
• Spec the customer actually wants: Pin down HHR vs basic in writing. Quoting HHR and being beaten by a competitor on basic units is a conversation you want to control, not lose.
• Access and handling: Note the floor, the stairs, the parking and the distance from the van. Heavy units up tight stairs add real time.
• Disposal: Account for removing and disposing of the old heaters — and price asbestos removal as a separate licensed specialist line where relevant.

Include a brief written breakdown with your quote — units specified, labour per unit, disposal, and any provisional sums for remedial work or asbestos. Even a one-page summary elevates your quote above competitors who just send a number, demonstrates that you know the asbestos risk, and gives the customer confidence to choose you over a cheaper, vaguer rival.

Quick Reference: Storage Heater Prices UK 2026