Electric Gates Buying Guide: Types, Costs and Power Use in the UK
Buying electric gates involves two costs: the upfront price and the electricity needed to keep them running. Many buying guides focus on the installation cost but overlook the ongoing bills. This guide looks at both. A 3m aluminium swing gate starts at £3,000, while a sliding gate starts at £5,000, including supply and installation but excluding VAT. The good news is that running costs are much lower, ranging from £12.81 to £55.40 a year. These figures use the Ofgem price cap of 26.32p per kWh for October to December 2026.
The motor is not the main drain. Standby power from the control board and accessories is. This guide covers gate types, purchase prices, power use and solar gate kits, then shows how home energy storage fits into the bigger picture of cutting household electricity costs.
Types of Electric Gates for UK Homes
Three designs cover most UK entrances. Swing gates open on hinges and suit flat driveways with room for the leaves to arc. Sliding electric gates run sideways on a cantilever frame and suit short or sloping entrances. An electric rolling gate is, in UK use, a sliding gate that runs on a ground track rather than a roller shutter, so it has its own row below.
Swing, Sliding and Rolling Gates Compared
Choose the type by site first and price second. Sliding and rolling gates cost more than swing gates because of tracks, drainage and groundwork.
Type | Best for | Space needed | Motor draw |
Swing pair | Flat driveway with depth | Clear arc behind each leaf | Up to 360W (2 × 180W) |
Sliding (cantilever) | Short or sloping driveway | Run-back length beside the opening | 170–500W |
Rolling (track) | Flat, level entrance | Run-back length beside the opening, plus a clear ground track | 170-500W |
Driveway and Commercial Entrances
Electric driveway gates at a family home open around eight times a day. Commercial electric gates at a shared entrance open 30 times or more, so ask for a motor rated for that duty. Match the motor to the traffic, not only to the gate weight.
Electric Gates Cost: What You Pay to Buy and Install
Purchase and Installation Prices
Electric gates cost most on day one. Checkatrade’s June 2026 guide puts the supply and installation cost of a 3m aluminium gate at £3,000 or more for swing gates and £5,000 or more for sliding gates. Rolling gates fall under the sliding gate category, so use the sliding price as a guide. All prices exclude VAT.
3m aluminium gate | Supply | Install | Supplied and installed |
Swing | £1,500+ | £1,500+ | £3,000+ |
Sliding (including rolling) | £3,000+ | £2,000+ | £5,000+ |
Swing gates are usually cheaper because their automation systems are simpler.
Note: Prices for purchase and servicing vary between installers. Ask TrustMark-registered installers for written quotes before making a decision. |
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Servicing and Optional Extras
Budget beyond the gate. An annual service costs £195-£275 plus VAT, so ask whether your electric gate installation quote includes the first visit. Extras such as photocells, intercoms and GSM units also add to the standby power use. Choose only the features you actually need.
How Much Power Do Electric Gates Use?
Two draws set the bill thats the motor uses energy while the gate moves. The control board and accessories use standby energy day and night. The formula: annual kWh = standby W × 8.76 + motor kW × run hours.
One cycle, an open and close with 40 seconds of motor run at 500W, uses 5.56Wh and costs 0.15p. A thousand openings come to £1.46. Moving the gate is cheap. Keeping it switched on all year costs more.
Component Wattage and Daily kWh
Manufacturer datasheets give the ranges for automatic electric gates, and they differ by brand. The table assumes eight cycles a day.
Component | Typical draw | Runs | Daily kWh (typical home) |
Sliding or rolling gate motor | 170–500W (FAAC range) | 8 cycles × 40 s | 0.044 (at 500W) |
24V swing pair motors | Up to 360W (2 × 180W, BFT) | 8 cycles × 40 s | 0.032 (at 360W) |
Control board standby | 0.5W (BFT, Ditec) to 4.7W (CAME; 0.75W in Green Power mode) | 24 hours | 0.012–0.113 |
Photocells, intercom, GSM, lights | 3W planning allowance (installer measures) | 24 hours | 0.072 |
Add up the reference scenario (8W standby, 500W motor, 8 cycles) and the total is 0.236kWh a day.
Standby Draw Versus Motor Draw
Standby is 90% of a light-use gate's annual kWh, 81% of a typical gate's and 62% of a busy entrance's.
Drop standby from 5W to 0.5W and you save 39 kWh, or £10.38 a year. CAME's Green Power mode (4.7W down to 0.75W) saves £9.11. Shopping for an electric gate kit? Read the datasheet for standby power before you buy.
Electric Gates Running Costs in the UK
These figures rest on three assumptions: 26.32p per kWh, 40 seconds of motor run per cycle and no standing charge. On a different tariff, multiply the annual kWh by your own unit rate. A time-of-use tariff, such as Octopus Go, is the other option to test against your household's usage.
Note: tariffs and the price cap change. Always check Ofgem for up-to-date figures. |
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Annual Cost for Driveway, Sliding and Shared Entrances
Electric driveway gates cost between £12.81 and £55.40 a year to run, set by opening frequency and standby draw. A busy shared entrance sits at the top of that range.
Setup | Standby | Motor | Cycles/day | Annual kWh | Annual cost | Monthly |
Light-use driveway gate | 5W | 300W | 4 | 48.7 | £12.81 | £1.07 |
Typical family driveway (sliding or swing) | 8W | 500W | 8 | 86.3 | £22.71 | £1.89 |
Busy shared or commercial entrance | 15W | 650W | 30 | 210.5 | £55.40 | £4.62 |
The typical family driveway gate uses 3.5% of a 2,500 kWh household's annual electricity. The busy entrance uses 8.4%.
A £10-a-month bill would mean 456 kWh a year, over twice the busy-entrance figure. Treat that as a fault or an unusual setup.
Note: the running costs shown are estimates based on the stated assumptions, not measured figures for your gate. Actual consumption varies with the control board, motor, accessories and how often the gate is used. A plug-in energy meter or your installer confirms your real figures. |
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Running Cost Against Buying Cost
Set the two bills side by side. The electric gates cost most on day one, and the power bill is the small one. Ten years of electricity for a typical gate (£227 at today’s price) is 7.6% of a £3,000 swing gate and 4.5% of a £5,000 sliding gate. An annual service runs 9-12 times your electricity bill, so budget for servicing before you worry about the meter.
Practical Ways to Cut Usage
Four levers do most of the work, in this order: standby, run time, opening frequency and motor rating. Accessories and weather add to them. For electric gates of any type, each row below gives you a number and an action.
Factor | Effect | Annual impact | Action |
Standby draw | 24-hour load | 5W to 0.5W saves £10.38 | Ask for a low-standby board |
Opening frequency | More cycles | At 500W: 4 cycles £2.13, 30 cycles £16.01 | Group trips; skip needless openings |
Gate weight and friction | Longer run time | Stiff gate doubling run time to 80 s adds £4.27 | Fix rollers, hinges and tracks |
Motor rating | Higher wattage per move | 170W vs 500W at 8 cycles: £1.45 vs £4.27 | Size to the gate, not to the largest motor |
Accessories | Always-on load | 3W of extras adds £6.92 | Remove unused heaters and old intercoms |
Weather | Wind and ice extend run time | Same run-time arithmetic | Check seals and travel in winter |
Electric sliding gates draw more per move than light swing leaves, but the standby rule still applies. But in winter, with ice on an electric rolling gate, the track will take longer to run, and after a frost warning issued by the Met Office, unroll the travel and seals.
You can keep electricity use down with five simple habits:
Choose the right equipment from the start. Pick an electric gate kit with a low-standby control board and a motor suited to your gate's size and weight.
Keep the gate moving freely. Lubricate the hinges, clear debris from the tracks and replace worn rollers.
Plan openings where possible. At commercial sites using automatic electric gates, space out arrivals to avoid unnecessary opening cycles.
Switch off equipment you no longer use. Remove unused heaters and old intercoms.
Keep safety devices connected. Never disconnect safety features just to reduce electricity use.
Choosing the Right Gate Before You Buy
Gate Kit, Bespoke Gate and Supply Cable
An electric gate kit is the cheaper route. It combines the motors with the control board, remotes and basic safety equipment for a basic opening unit, and your installer installs it on a ready-made or basic gate. Before purchasing, look at the datasheet and find out the standby power requirements of the unit because this will determine most of the running costs of the unit.
A bespoke gate is made to your opening, with your choice of design, finish and materials. It costs more and takes longer, and the automation is usually specified separately by the installer. It suits odd widths, sloping ground, brick pillars or a gate that has to match the house. The prices earlier in this guide show the starting point, and a bespoke gate will usually sit above them.
Weight and size matter more than the label. A larger motor is required for a heavy hardwood or steel hard-leaf than a light aluminium hard-leaf, while a smaller motor has to work harder and work out more quickly. Request your installer to match the motor to your gate and how often it is opened.
Whichever you choose, the gate needs a mains supply. Even a 24V system runs from a transformer fed by mains at or near the gate, so electric gate installation includes a cable run from the house or consumer unit.
Use a registered electrician. The gate supply is a new circuit and should be wired to BS 7671.
Expect groundwork. The cable is normally armoured or run in buried duct, so trenching and reinstating the driveway are part of the job.
Distance drives cost. A gate 40 metres from the house costs far more to wire than one by the front door. That is also where a solar kit starts to make sense.
Plan it early. Settle the cable route before the gate posts or driveway surface go in, and ask for the route to be marked on the quote.
Size for the supply, not the bill. The gate uses little energy, but your electrician still needs to size the cable for the motor’s start-up load and the distance.
Ask for the gate type, motor rating, control board and cable route in writing, and get quotes from TrustMark-registered firms.
Can Solar Power Electric Gates?
Solar fixes a cable problem. It barely touches your bill. If the gate stands 40 metres from the house, trenching an armoured cable costs more than a small panel and battery. The panel pays off in labour, not in energy.
Take a low-power 24V kit with 0.5W standby, an 80W motor and 10 cycles a day. It uses 7.6 kWh a year, which costs £2.01 on the mains. A typical family gate costs £22.71, so the low-power kit saves £20.70, a 91% cut in energy that comes from the efficient board and motor, not the panel.
Off-grid solar removes the last £2.01, but the real benefit is skipping the cable trench. A 20W panel gives about 18 kWh a year at 900 kWh per kWp, roughly 2.4 times the annual need on average. Winter output sets the sizing.
Battery autonomy is the other test. A 24V 6Ah battery (144Wh) lasts about 7 days without sun. Two 12V 7Ah batteries (168Wh) last about 8 days. Both figures use nominal capacity with no depth-of-discharge allowance.
For electric gates for driveways set well back from the house, skipping the trench at electric gate installation is where you save. A solar kit on your electric driveway gate still needs its annual service.
If the gate is mains-fed and you already have household solar, a typical gate is 2.0% of a 4.9kWp array’s 4,410 kWh annual output. The busy entrance is 4.8%. Mains-fed gate which has connection to both the sun and the electricity grid at night. Standby is used during the night and is provided by the grid.
Plug-in solar won't change that. The UK specification covers panels without batteries, caps output at 800VA and allows one device per household. It will not operate battery systems at night that are off-grid, and it will not power the gate off-grid at night.
Powering Your Gates and Home From Your Own Solar
The gate itself is a small load, so the bigger saving is household-wide. Home energy storage holds your midday surplus for the evening, when the gate's standby and the whole house draw from the grid. Before you select a battery, be sure to ask your installer what kind of gate it's powered by.
Planning Solar and Storage Together
Without panels yet, plan the gate supply, solar and storage in one visit. One cable route and one set of paperwork — including DNO notification through your installer — cover everything.
If you're planning a new solar setup, the EcoFlow STREAM 5000 gives you a way to build your system around a single battery. It has a 5kWh (5,024Wh) capacity, which expands to 90kWh as your energy needs grow. It also supports up to 5,000W of solar input across four MPPT channels, each rated at 1,250W, with a maximum AC output of 3,000W. Its compact design and built-in handle make it easier to position around your home. Once your solar panels are generating electricity, compatible electric gates use that stored energy instead of drawing from the grid once your installer confirms the electrical setup is suitable.
Adding Storage to an Existing Solar System
Say your household has a 4.9kWp array and mains-fed sliding electric gates using 86.3 kWh a year, about 0.24 kWh a day. A 5kWh battery covers that average use for about 21 days, so the battery's job is the household, not the gate.
If panels are already on your roof, storage is the missing piece. The EcoFlow STREAM AC 5000 stores 5kWh (5024Wh), expands up to 90kWh and delivers 3000W AC output, with Intelligent Mode+ and Local Mode. That output sits well above the 500–650W motor figures used here, so ask your installer to confirm board compatibility and inrush. Any benefit to your electric gates is a bonus.
Note: Compliant generation-only plug-in solar kits have been legal to buy and use in Great Britain since 27 August 2026, but these rules do not cover plug-in batteries or solar-plus-storage systems. Home batteries and systems with integrated batteries (like the EcoFlow STREAM range) are not plug-in solar products. They must be professionally installed and must comply with IET Wiring Regulations (BS 7671) and DNO connection requirements. Ensure you follow current guidance given by GOV.UK and contact a qualified installer to find out what is needed for your home. |
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Conclusion
Electric gates start from £3,000 for swing and £5,000 for sliding, supplied and installed. A typical gate then uses about 86 kWh a year, £22.71 at 26.32p, and standby makes up 81% of that. There is a busy entrance which costs £55.40. The actual benefit of solar kits is to avoid the cable run, and they only save about £2 of electricity. Electric gates are a small line on the bill against your usage.
Once the gate is in proportion, the bigger saving is household-wide, and that's where home energy storage earns its place. Explore the EcoFlow STREAM 5000 and EcoFlow STREAM AC 5000 on the EcoFlow UK website to find home energy storage that suits your solar plans.
FAQ About Electric Gates
Do Electric Gates Need Planning Permission?
Height and highway frontage decide it. In England, gates next to a road over 1m, or over 2m elsewhere, need consent — so tall electric driveway gates onto a road usually do. Listed buildings and some conservation areas need consent regardless. Check with your local planning authority.
Do Electric Gates Work in a Power Cut?
They stop. A manual release key opens them, so keep it within reach. Automatic electric gates with optional battery backup keep running for a set number of cycles — ask your installer how many. Without that, your electric gate won't open itself.
What Safety Standards Should Electric Gates Meet?
Ask for force-limit testing to BS EN 12453 and written test records from a Gate Safe-trained, TrustMark-registered installer. Keep those records safe.