All electric to gas central heating

[jennyray]

I live in a 3 bedroom town house which is all electric. I have a gas meter on the wall outside though.
To heat my home we have two 3.4kw storage heaters. One in the hallway and one in the lounge. We have normal electric fires in the bedroom. For hot water we have an emersion heater. Im dreading the cost to run them over the winter as encommy 7 use to be half price. Now it's only a few pence cheaper than normal rate.

A few questions. Is it worth installing gas central heating with a boiler? If so any idea of the cost fully fitted. Will gas be obsolete in a few years or will the price go up to the same level as electric?

Are there any better heating option?

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Without seeing the place there's no way to give an accurate price. Ballpark of £4k, search out some local heating firms and get a few in to give you a price.
If you've got anyone local offering ashp installs, might be worth getting them to price as well.
Gas will be around for a while. Much electricity is generated in this country by burning gas- while that continues, gas will be cheaper than electricity.

 

[jennyray]

Without seeing the place there's no way to give an accurate price. Ballpark of £4k, search out some local heating firms and get a few in to give you a price.
If you've got anyone local offering ashp installs, might be worth getting them to price as well.
Gas will be around for a while. Much electricity is generated in this country by burning gas- while that continues, gas will be cheaper than electricity.

With a ashp will I need radiators and pipes fitting? Can I get a grant without a boiler?

 

[oldbutnotdead]

With a ashp will I need radiators and pipes fitting? Can I get a grant without a boiler?

You'll need some means of moving heat around so probably but I'm no expert on the things. No idea on the grant.

 

[flameport]

With a ashp will I need radiators and pipes fitting?

Only if you want them.

ASHPs that provide heated air are available and can usually be installed for a lot less than one which heats water for use in radiators.
They are often sold as air conditioning, and can cool in the summer as well as heat in the winter.

 

[CBW]

If you have a gas meter, then I’d be going the gas route, but you may need to confirm the supply is live.

 

[big-all]

in general grants tend to be available to people on means tested benefits but not always

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/housing-and-energy-grants/

 

[Ltnman]

I just spent £3200 for a boiler swap with smart heating controls. Hate to think what the cost of pipework and radiators would have been plus getting the gas to the boiler.
If you do go down that path it will be 10% cheaper this year than next year.

 

[Munroast]

The rub with ASHP is they use electric, on a cold day for every kwh of electric you put in you only get about 3 to 4 kwh of heat coming out, and since gas is less than a third of the price of electricity, and remember most of your heating costs occur on cold days..... you need to do your sums.

on a cold day with temp not much above freezing
ASHP - 3.5 kwh of heat will cost about 37p
GAS CH. 3.5kwh of heat (85% efficient boiler) will cost about 46p

for a new build, yes. But what will the pay back time be if you spend 30K rebuilding your house to incorporate new pipes and radiators and underfloor heating?

electricity is stupidly over priced.!

 

[jennyray]

Does anyone know how much a 3.4kw heater is to run on economy 7 for 7 hours a night? Unit rate is 24p per kWh. I'm terrified to turn them on at the minute. We are using 1kw oil filled radiators at the minute

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Does anyone know how much a 3.4kw heater is to run on economy 7 for 7 hours a night? Unit rate is 24p per kWh. I'm terrified to turn them on at the minute. We are using 1kw oil filled radiators at the minute

The only way to tell for sure is to read your meter before going to bed and read it again in the morning- bit like your immersion heater, it may not take 7 hours to saturate the storage heater.
Each hour each heater is drawing current will cost you 3.4 x £0.24 - a scary £0.816 per hour. If they are charging for 7 hours that'll cost you £5.71. Per heater (you have 2?)
If you want the house warm all day the storage heaters are probably cheaper to run than the oil rads (which will be on peak tariff, presumably 40p per kWh or so).
If (like many) you want a bit of warm when you get up & a bit before you go to bed and that's it the oil rads (on thermostats and timeswitches or smart sockets) will probably be cheaper to run.
Only way to tell for sure is again to read your meter obsessively- use a spreadsheet (or a notepad), note readings, worth noting outside temperature and anything unusual (Sunday roast in an electric oven will throw your sums out)

 

[jennyray]

The only way to tell for sure is to read your meter before going to bed and read it again in the morning- bit like your immersion heater, it may not take 7 hours to saturate the storage heater.
Each hour each heater is drawing current will cost you 3.4 x £0.24 - a scary £0.816 per hour. If they are charging for 7 hours that'll cost you £5.71. Per heater (you have 2?)
If you want the house warm all day the storage heaters are probably cheaper to run than the oil rads (which will be on peak tariff, presumably 40p per kWh or so).
If (like many) you want a bit of warm when you get up & a bit before you go to bed and that's it the oil rads (on thermostats and timeswitches or smart sockets) will probably be cheaper to run.
Only way to tell for sure is again to read your meter obsessively- use a spreadsheet (or a notepad), note readings, worth noting outside temperature and anything unusual (Sunday roast in an electric oven will throw your sums out)

That is scary. The new lot20 heaters are 1.5kw which is equal to the old 3.4kw heaters. Not sure how good they are though. I have ordered a far infrared heater from Amazon as I had a voucher from last Christmas. £170. Cost me £32 with voucher. 900w. If it's no good I can at least return it. Thanks for all your help so far.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

That is scary. The new lot20 heaters are 1.5kw which is equal to the old 3.4kw heaters. Not sure how good they are though. I have ordered a far infrared heater from Amazon as I had a voucher from last Christmas. £170. Cost me £32 with voucher. 900w. If it's no good I can at least return it. Thanks for all your help so far.

Mmm. Far infrared and snake oil....
I think the theory behind those things is they heat the person not the room. Which is fine, in theory cheaper but if the room gets too cold with warm people in it you may get problems with condensation.
The theory behind night store heaters is you use cheaper overnight current to heat a mass (used to be cement type blocks), then use that energy in the daytime when you want the heat. Problem is a lot of the stored heat leaked out in the daytime, come the evening when you want the place warm there wasn't enough left.
Your new panel heaters don't store heat- switch them on you get heat, switch them off you don't.
How well insulated is your house? Heavy curtains on the doors and windows? 300mm rockwool in the loft? Spend on improving heat retention can be very effective-spend once, save every day.

 

[pcaouolte]

Mmm. Far infrared and snake oil....
I think the theory behind those things is they heat the person not the room.

They also only seem to heat the part of the person that is nearest the heater so you need to keep turning round as if you were on a spit roast.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

They also only seem to heat the part of the person that is nearest the heater so you need to keep turning round as if you were on a spit roast.

Brings back bedsit memories of 2 bar electric heaters