Heating a Home Abroad (2026): Oil, LPG, Pellet, Wood and Heat Pumps, and the Winter Electricity Bill Nobody Warns You About

Published on: June 23, 2026

Quick answer: For most well-insulated homes a heat pump is the cheapest system to run in 2026, because it is three to five times more efficient than any boiler, and it cools in summer too. Logs are the cheapest raw fuel but the most labour; direct electric radiators are the most expensive to run. The biggest variable is not the fuel but the building: an uninsulated old stone house can double or triple any system's bill. Insulate first, ask for last winter's actual bills before you buy, and remember that from 2027 EU carbon pricing starts pushing gas and oil higher.

Most guides to buying a Mediterranean or rural home obsess over the summer: the terrace, the pool, the air conditioning. Almost none prepare you for the other side of the year. A beautiful old stone house in Tuscany, the Alpujarras, or the French countryside can be freezing and ruinously expensive to heat, and the first winter is when buyers discover that the charming property they fell in love with has no insulation, no gas connection, and a heating bill that dwarfs anything they expected. This is the guide to the part nobody warns you about. (For the opposite season, see our companion guide on air conditioning and the summer electricity bill.)

First principle: the building beats the system

Before comparing fuels, understand the rule that governs everything: an uninsulated house will be expensive to heat no matter what system you install. Many of the homes overseas buyers fall for, village houses, stone farmhouses, mountain cottages, were built long before energy efficiency existed. Walls leak heat, windows are single-glazed, roofs are bare.

If you do nothing else, insulate first: roof, walls, windows, and even the heating pipes. Industry analyses are blunt about this: without insulation, even the best system will underperform. Spending on insulation almost always beats spending on a bigger boiler, a point we make again in our guide to renovations that actually add value.

The heating options, compared

Here is how the main systems stack up in 2026. (All running-cost figures are rough European bands that vary enormously by country, tariff, and how well your home holds heat; treat them as orientation, not quotes.)

Heat pumps: usually the cheapest to run

A heat pump doesn't generate heat, it moves it, which makes it three to five times more efficient than any boiler (a unit of electricity yields 3–5 units of heat). In most 2026 scenarios it is the cheapest system to run, and it gives you cooling in summer as a bonus. The catches: it needs an outdoor unit (mind the noise and placement), and it performs best with low-temperature emitters (underfloor heating or large radiators) and, again, good insulation. Our guide to solar, heat pumps and batteries covers the payback maths in detail.

Mains gas: convenient where it exists

Piped natural gas is convenient and comfortable, but rural and village properties often have no gas grid at all, which quietly removes this option. Where it exists, note that gas prices rose around 15% in 2025 in some markets, and carbon pricing (below) will push fossil-fuel heating up over the coming years.

Heating oil: common off-grid, but on the way out

Oil (mazot, fioul, gasóleo) is a traditional off-grid choice, but it requires a storage tank with compliance obligations, and it is being phased out across much of Europe. New oil installations are effectively impossible in some countries since 2024, with existing systems allowed to run for a limited window. It is also among the more expensive fuels to run and the most exposed to carbon costs.

LPG and propane: the bottled fallback

LPG (bottled or in a tank) is the off-grid fallback where there's no gas main and you'd rather not use oil. It's flexible but pricier per unit of heat than mains gas, and you're managing deliveries or bottle swaps.

Wood and pellets: cheapest fuel, most effort

• Logs and wood are the cheapest fuel by raw energy cost, burned in a stove or closed fireplace. The trade-off is labour and storage: feeding the fire, storing dry wood, and a mandatory annual chimney sweep.
• Wood pellets sit a little higher than logs but burn in automated boilers and stoves. They need a pellet store and regular ash removal, and note that pellet prices jumped ~20% in 2025; biomass is not immune to price spikes.

Direct electric radiators: simplest, most expensive

Plug-in electric radiators are the cheapest to install and the most expensive to run, because raw electricity is the priciest energy per unit. They're really only sensible for occasional or holiday use or in a very well-insulated home.

Rough running-cost orientation

For a well-insulated ~100 m² home (around 10,000 kWh of heat a year), illustrative annual bands look like this. Treat them as orientation, not quotes:

Scale up for a larger, draughtier house: a German single-family home of ~140 m² (20,000 kWh) runs roughly €1,400 on a heat pump, €2,600 on gas, €3,000 on oil. Your actual numbers depend on country, climate zone, tariff, and insulation, but the ranking is consistent: efficient systems plus insulation win.

The winter bill nobody warns you about

Beyond the obvious fuel cost, here's what blindsides overseas buyers:

• The old-stone-house penalty. A picturesque uninsulated property can double or triple any system's bill. Ask for the property's energy rating and last winter's actual bills before you buy (our guide to energy performance certificates explains how to read the rating).
• Standing charges. Connection and standing charges are a fixed cost people forget to count; they apply even in months you barely heat.
• The electric-radiator shock. A "simple" holiday home heated by plug-in electric radiators can produce a genuinely alarming bill, because electricity is the most expensive raw energy.
• The carbon-pricing wave. From 2027 the EU's new ETS2 extends carbon pricing to heating fuels, which will steadily raise gas and oil costs. Forecasters expect fossil-fuel heating to become markedly more expensive over the next two decades; a gas boiler could accumulate roughly €9,500 in carbon costs over 20 years on some estimates. This shifts the long-run maths firmly toward heat pumps.
• The empty-house problem. A holiday home left unheated all winter gets cold and damp, inviting mould and frozen, burst pipes (see our guide to damp, mould, termites and woodworm). Budget for frost protection or low background heating even when you're away.

Grants exist, but check the holiday-home catch

Many European countries subsidize the switch to heat pumps: the UK's Boiler Upgrade Scheme (with an extra uplift for off-gas homes), France's MaPrimeRénov', Italy's Conto Termico, Germany's KfW grants, and others. They can cover a meaningful share of installation cost.

The catch for overseas buyers: these grants frequently require the home to be a permanent residence and may exclude second or holiday homes. Before counting on a subsidy, check the eligibility rules for non-residents and second homes in that specific country; the answer is often "no," and it changes your payback maths.

A buyer's pre-purchase heating checklist

• Ask for the energy-performance rating and last winter's actual bills.
• Identify the existing system, its age, and whether mains gas is even available.
• Budget insulation first, before any system upgrade.
• Match the system to the climate zone (mountains and the north need more than the coast) and to how you'll use the home (full-time vs holiday).
• For holiday homes, plan for frost protection and the damp and empty-house risk.
• Check grant eligibility for non-residents and second homes before assuming you'll get help.

The romance of an old house abroad is real. So is the winter. Buyers who plan the heating before they buy, insulation first, the right system for the climate and usage, eyes open on carbon costs, enjoy the home. Buyers who don't spend the first January shivering in front of a space heater while the bill climbs.

Frequently asked questions

What's the cheapest way to heat a home abroad in 2026?
For most well-insulated homes, a heat pump is cheapest to run (it's 3–5 times as efficient as a boiler) and adds summer cooling. Logs are the cheapest raw fuel but the most labour-intensive. Direct electric heating is usually the most expensive.

Why is my old stone house so expensive to heat?
Because it's almost certainly poorly insulated. Any heating system underperforms in a leaky building; insulating the roof, walls, windows and pipes is the highest-return spend.

Will gas and oil get more expensive?
Likely yes. From 2027 the EU's ETS2 extends carbon pricing to heating fuels, and forecasts point to fossil-fuel heating becoming significantly costlier over the next 20 years.

Can I get a grant for a heat pump on a holiday home?
Often not. Many national heat-pump grants require a permanent residence and exclude second or holiday homes. Check the specific country's rules for non-residents before relying on a subsidy.

Disclaimer. This article is general information for international buyers, current as of 2026, and is not financial or technical advice. Energy prices, fuel-phase-out timelines, carbon-pricing schedules, and grant eligibility vary by country and change frequently; all running-cost figures are rough European bands, not quotes. Always obtain local quotes and consult a qualified installer and your local authority before choosing or replacing a heating system.

A note on the numbers: where no source is named, the market figures in this article (prices, yields, costs) are indicative estimates compiled from publicly available market data and industry reporting at the time of writing. Markets move and rules change, so treat them as a starting point and verify current figures with official sources before acting on them.