What does a fan heater cost to run?
A typical fan heater running at its typical daily hours costs about $51/month to run in New Zealand - that's $614/year at the current national average rate of 42.0c/kWh.
| Region | Rate | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Dunedin | 42.4c/kWh | $52 |
| Queenstown | 42.3c/kWh | $51 |
| Auckland Central | 41.2c/kWh | $50 |
| Christchurch | 38.5c/kWh | $47 |
| Wellington City | 37.0c/kWh | $45 |
This estimate models a typical fan heater running at its typical daily hours. At the national average rate of 42.0c/kWh, that works out to about 122 kWh a month - $51/month, or $614 across a year.
- Power draw
- 2,000 W
- Typical use
- 2 hrs/day, 7 days/week
- Rate applied
- 42.0c/kWh (national average)
- Energy used
- 122 kWh/month · 1,460 kWh/year
Your own usage will differ - adjust the hours, wattage and rate for your household in the full calculator.
Could swap for a heat pump
a heat pump uses about 38% of the energy, cutting the monthly bill to roughly $19. Over a year, that's $381 back in your pocket.
What to know about running a fan heater
Fan heaters are the cheapest heater you can buy and the most expensive to run. Like an oil column heater they are fully resistive, so a 2,000W fan heater costs about the same per hour as any other 2,000W heater. There is no clever efficiency in them, just an element and a fan blowing the heat around.
Because they push hot air around instantly, people reach for them constantly and leave them going. That instant warmth is the trap. It feels responsive, so it gets left on for hours, and at full wattage the whole time it quietly becomes one of the more expensive things you can run.
Their real use case is short and targeted. A quick blast of warmth in a cold bathroom while you get dressed, or a few minutes to take the edge off a room before the proper heating kicks in. Used for a handful of minutes at a time, the total cost stays small because the hours are small, even though the wattage is high while it runs.
Used as a primary heat source they are brutal on a power bill. The small cheap ones often trip their own thermal cut-outs when run hard, which is a hint that they are not built to heat a room for a whole evening. They noisily move warm air about but do nothing to hold heat in the room, so the moment they switch off the warmth vanishes. They are a stopgap, not a heating system.
If you find yourself running a fan heater for hours every evening, that is the signal to change something. A heat pump delivers the same warmth for roughly a third of the electricity, because it multiplies its energy rather than converting it one-to-one, and running it hard through a winter it will pay for itself surprisingly quickly.
Before you decide, price your own situation. Put the fan heater's wattage and the hours you actually run it into the calculator at your region's rate, and put a heat pump beside it doing the same job. If the fan heater is your main heat, the gap will be large and it makes the case for you.
Frequently asked
How much does a fan heater cost to run in NZ?
At the national average electricity rate of 42.0c/kWh, a typical fan heater costs about $51 per month, or $614 per year. Actual costs vary by region and how heavily you use it.
Which NZ region has the cheapest fan heater running cost?
Of the five centres shown on this page, Wellington City is the cheapest at $45/month, and Dunedin is the most expensive at $52/month. The 30% spread reflects regional MBIE retail rates.
Is there a cheaper alternative to a fan heater?
Yes - swapping to a heat pump would use about 38% of the energy, saving roughly $381 per year.
Related running costs
More heating appliances people ask about:
- Heat pump (heating)
- Plug-in oil column heater
- Electric blanket
- Heated towel rail
- Electric underfloor heating
- Air conditioning (cooling)
- Ceiling fan
- Bathroom heat lamp (4× bulbs)