Best Electric Boiler in 2023 (Reviews & Boiler Buying Guide)

This 10-minute guide on the best electric boiler models covers everything you need to know to make an informed buying decision.

Our in-depth research compares electric boilers vs gas boilers, walks you through installation costs, and reveals our top pick for the best electric boiler models in 2024.

Who Makes the Best Electric Boilers?

If you’re all set on getting your hands on the best electric boiler, the first thing to decide on is the brand. There are a range of companies supplying electric boilers, so which ones are best?

Below, we’ll cover the most popular brands, and then highlight our pick for the best electric boiler model.

The best electric boiler brands:

1. Electric Heating Company (EHC)

As their name suggests, the Electric Heating Company focus on electric heating systems. And, if you’ve read any of our other product reviews, we like companies that are specialists in their field.

For a while now, the Electric Heating Company have been producing top of the range products — all things electric — including:

• Electric boilers
• Electric radiators
• Unvented stainless steel cylinders
• Electric water Heaters

Here’s the great thing about the Electric Heating Company — they’re a specialist, their whole team are experienced, and they’re always ready to help you find the electric boiler package you need.

2. Heatrae Sadia

Heatrae Sadia are an arm of Baxi Heating, a conglomerate that owns both Potterton and Baxi — premium brands in the gas boiler industry. They’ve got an extensive network of UK engineers, as well as UK support. And typically, you’ll find that Heatrae Sadia products are high-end in both price and quality; this applies to electric boilers, too.

3. Trianco

Trianco produce specialized boilers rather than focusing on the saturated gas market. Their main offerings are oil and electric boilers, specifically.

4. Elnur

Elnur has been manufacturing efficient heating products, including electric boilers, since 1973. Now, they’re producing over 210,000 units per year, a lot of which find their way into UK homes.

The Best Electric Boiler for Your Home (2024 REVIEW)

With multiple brands, all offering a range of different electric boilers, deciding on which one to install is hardly easy.

If you’re looking for the best electric boiler, our first stop would be the Electric Heating Company. In particular, we’d be checking out their range of Comet boilers.

EHC Comet Electric Boiler

The EHC Comet Combi is one of the most popular electric boilers in EHC’s range. If you’ve got no access to mains gas and want an efficient electric unit, this is where you should start your search.

You’ll get hot water storage at 140L, enough to cope with reasonable hot water demand. And, available in three sizes (9kw, 12kw or 14kw), there’s a solution for most properties.

One thing you won’t be getting with a cheap electric combi boiler is something that is included with the Comet combi; a stainless steel heat exchanger.

Heat exchangers are one of the most expensive parts in a boiler to replace, so you want it to last. And, if that’s going to be the case, it needs to be stainless steel.

The Comet combi is all about efficiency (at 100%), and appliance longevity. It’s got a built-in auto air vent, high thermal cut out, and even has a magnetic system filter, which helps keep away heating sludge. It’s this sludge that is the killer of most boilers.

You’ll get a 2-year warranty as standard, with the integral cylinder being offered with a 10-year warranty.

If your central heating uses an external cylinder, you’ll need the Comet system boiler, rather than the electric combi boiler.

Like the Comet combi, a system boiler from EHC will get you 100% efficiency, a stainless steel heat exchanger, and multi-level protection, including a pre-plumbing magnetic system filter.

The warranty differs when compared with the combi boiler. With the Comet system, you’ll get 2-years as standard, but you’ve got the option to upgrade this to 5-years if you wish.

Price, efficiency, size, and output considered, the Comet from EHC gets our vote for the best electric boiler.

RELATED READING: The Best Electric Showers, And Most Powerful

Electric Boiler vs Gas Boiler — Are Electric Boilers Any Good?

It’s a known fact; electric boilers cost more to run than gas.

So, why would anyone choose to install an electric boiler over a gas equivalent?

1. Low boiler installation costs

Gas boilers aren’t particularly cheap to install. Looking at the low-end installations, so a cheap combi boiler in a 1-2 bedroom flat, you’re already talking upwards of £1,900. And, that price is going to rise rapidly for more complex boiler installations and larger properties.

In an average-sized property, you’ll likely pay around £2,200-3,000 for a new boiler installation. In contrast, unlike gas combi boilers, the best electric combi boilers typically cost around £1,800 — including installation.

2. It’s an eco-friendly solution

Whilst initial prices and costs are at the forefront of most people’s minds, boilers that run on fossil fuels, like gas, oil, and LPG aren’t exactly eco-friendly.

Even for newer models, the efficiency of most boilers sits around 90%; meanwhile, older models are often only 60% efficient.

On the other hand, electric boilers are extremely efficient; you can expect around 99% efficiency from most models.

Note: There are some units that are 100% efficient. We’ll be talking about those below, in our guide to the best electric boilers.

3. Easy hook up for off-the-grid properties

Not all properties are hooked up to mains gas. My parents, for instance, bought their property with an oil boiler installed. That’s one of the options you have for heating and hot water if you don’t have access to mains gas.

Whilst gas boilers might be cheap to run, oil boilers aren’t. More importantly, the cost of an oil boiler can be twice that of a gas combi boiler equivalent, making an electric boiler installation a much more viable alternative to oil when gas isn’t an option.

4. Minimal servicing costs

Typical gas boiler service might cost around £80 on an annual basis. And those annual service charges quickly mount up.

Since electric boilers have fewer mechanical parts, servicing schedules are further apart, and repairs are much easier.

With fewer moving parts, fewer things typically go wrong, so you can expect reasonably low repair bills over the years.  All of these factors mean extra pound notes in your pocket.

5. Noise

Unless you’ve got premium, modern gas boiler, you’ll notice one thing about your appliance — it’s ridiculously noisy. A lot of the time, this is down to a worn, damaged, or low-quality pump.

Noise usually represents a loss of efficiency. Luckily, electric boilers are both ridiculously efficient and almost silent.

6. No constraints on installation area (space-saving)

With gas and oil boilers, you’ll be constrained by the installation area. Each gas/oil boiler needs a flue to vent harmful gases from your property.

For those currently installed on an outside wall, it’s likely there’s a pre-drilled core hole that means the flue can be routed horizontally out of that wall.

Those in airing cupboards tend to be routed vertically, so that the flue exits through the roof using extensions (these are expensive, by the way).

As you won’t need a flue with your electric boiler, you can install it wherever you want, which is welcome news if you’re short on space. You can install your boiler out of the way, freeing up space in the most important rooms in your home.

Is an Electric Boiler Right for You?

You should consider electric boilers if a few of the points below reflect your current situation:

• You don’t want to deal with tradesmen for regular boiler service/repairs
• You’d prefer to save on the upfront boiler installation cost (100s of pounds), but expect to pay slightly more on your annual energy bills
• An eco-friendly central heating solution is important to you
• Noise is a dealbreaker
• You don’t have access to mains gas
• You’re trying to save space at home

Electric Boiler Installation Costs

Now, to the nitty-gritty. How much is an electric boiler installation going to cost you?

The good news? Electric boiler installations don’t need a huge array of parts, making them quicker and simpler to install than their gas or oil boiler peers.

An average electric boiler installation, including parts and labour, is likely to cost around £1,800 for the best models, like the Comet Electric Combi Boiler from EHC.

Getting multiple quotes from different installers will give you a chance to get the best deal. And if you’d like to compare prices against the best gas and oil boilers on the market, go ahead and get a free, fixed quote from Heatable. Their online form takes only 90 seconds to fill out, and you’ll have fixed prices for the top boiler models on your screen.

Final Thoughts on Electric Boilers

Thanks for reading our guide to electric boilers. If you feel that there’s anything we missed, or you have anything you’d like to share with our readers, please leave a comment below.