Cheaper? Gas or Electric Heating?

[WabbitPoo]

I got to wondering this morning if it would be cheaper to heat rooms with those oil-filled thermostatically controlled heaters instead of the gas-powered combi boiler-powered CH.....

In the one room we do have such a heater, I leave it on low all day (with the TRV on the main rad set to off) and the low background heat serves us nicely.

How do I go about calculating the cost of either type of heating?

 

[bernardgreen]

Provided it is used in a well designed and installed heating system gas is almost always cheaper than electricity for space heating. Electric is better for localised heat such as kettles, induction cooking hobs and ( perish the thought ) those dreaded electric blankets.

There are a few exceptions this rule but these are seldom found in a domestic situation where there is a choice between gas or electric

One exception is the one you seem to have where background heat is required in one room. A 1kW thermostatically controlled electric heater might be cheaper that cycling a gas boiler on and off due to the losses of heat in flue gases and from pipework between boiler and the radiator in the room.

 

[muggles]

Gas should be about 1/3 the price of electric

 

[Agile]

Where I am at the moment the house is using electric heating.

That is probably cheaper because its only used in the occupied room.

Whereas with the gas heating on all the house is heated because no one would turn it off in an unoccupied room.

 

[big-all]

12-18p 1kw off electric
12-18p 3-4kw off gas
so if the gas set up is 25-30+%efficient then gas will be cheaper or the same as electric
most are 70-90% efficient so 1/3 the cost for the same heat

 

[Mikefromlondon]

If you have a room and you wanted to heat it all night while you slept, a 1kw heater would heat it nicely and maintain a good comfortable temperature, so in 12 hours it would cost you 12kwh at 12p that would be £1.44, but to run a gas boiler all night that might also heat your living room and kitchen and dining, bathroom, and other unoccupied rooms you could well end up spending £3.00 to 4.00 for that same time period, yet the room may not feel hot enough.

 

[simond]

Answer is a gas boiler and Evohome zoning. Or an oil boiler and Evohome zoning. Or an LPG boiler.......

Never the silly electric radiators, unless you want to pay 300% more, day in day out. And the stuff about them being environmentally responsible is a deceit; most of the electricity in this country is produced from burning gas in a power station and heating water (steam) with it.

The reason electricity is so much more expensive than gas is because over half the gas is wasted in the process of getting the electricity to your door. How environmentally responsible is that?

 

[JohnD]

...such a heater, I leave it on low all day (with the TRV on the main rad set to off) and the low background heat serves us nicely....

But with energy from electricity currently almost four times the price of energy from gas (mine is 10.35p vs. 2.656p, ex. VAT), surely you would do better to make use of the radiator during the times the CH is running, and top up with electric only when the boiler is off? If your electric heater has a thermostat, it should do that for you.

At those prices, you could easily heat three bedrooms on a CH zone for the cost of one with an electric heater.

 

[WabbitPoo]

Thanks. That assumes the same efficiency for heat supplied from gas as from electricity. Is that so? Thanks for replying

 

[JohnD]

no, there are some losses from pipework and boiler efficiency less than 100%, but I don't know how much. The inefficiencies and losses from electricity generation and distribution are deducted before it reaches your meter.

In my example above, you could lose about 20% and still heat three for the price of one.

During winter, heat lost from pipes is usually disregarded as it contributes to the heating of the house.