elec boiler vs new gas pipe?

[stephadviceneeded3]

im wondering what peoples experiences are with electric boilers, reliability etc.
i dont have an existing gas supply and so am wondering wether to invest in a new gas pipe from british gas or to go for an electric boiler. please help me.

 

[Nige F]

Got to be Gas @ any price

 

[stephadviceneeded3]

oh gosh, please elaborate...

 

[SimonH2]

There isn't a simple answer to a question like that, there are so many variables.

First off, how much is a new gas supply going to cost ? ... and therefore how much money are you going to have to save to pay for it ? ... and how long are you prepared to take to get a payback ?

It's not as simple as lecky costs x p/kWh and gas costs y p/kWh, therefore you need to use (gas pipe cost)*100/(x - y) kWh of energy to get payback. You also have to take into account differences in installation costs for the system, and of course you also need to consider what's already installed.

First off, if it's a 'greenfield install' (ie there's no existing installation to consider), then my personal preference would be a thermal store or heat bank. Your "electric boiler" in this case would simply be a suitable size/quantity of immersion heaters and their associated supplies. In that case, you've completely eliminated the cost of the gas boiler install against (in most cases) some fairly basic electrical installation. It may also be practical to go on an "Economy 7" type tariff and reduce the difference between gas and electric prices.

As you'll know if you browse this and other forums, to say that not everyone is a fan of thermal stores or heat banks would be an understatement So if you aren't going that route, then a standard open-vented hot water cylinder will do your hot water (again with immersion heaters) - or an unvented (pressurised) cylinder if you want "mains pressure" hot water. That leaves you with the heating.
When I was researching option before fitting the thermal store in the flat, I found that there are a few electric boilers on the market, but IMO they were very expensive for what they are - effectively a heater element inside a bit of water pipe, with some insulation, a case, and controls. If you wanted wet central heating then you 'd need to use an electric boiler, or a cylinder you can connect it to (ie a thermal store or heat bank).

Again, with a blank sheet, you could avoid wet heating. Some people go for storage heaters, but IMO these are really, really dire and need you to guess in advance how much heat you will need the next day - and lack controllability. We have them in the office, and often have to open windows to let heat out ! Or there is underfloor electric which is relatively cheap and easy to install, but got a bad reputation years ago due to the tendency to use off-peak for heating and thus try to use the concrete floor as an uncontrolled storage heater.

Other factors that may influence you might include the availability of locations for gas flue and condensate drain (a factor leading me to investigate electric heating for the flat). And having determined possible locations for the boiler, how easy (or otherwise) it is to get the appropriate plumbing to where it's needed.

 

[muggles]

Gas

 

[bengasman]

Im wondering what peoples experiences are with electric boilers, reliability etc.

You don't have to use extra large, very few of us are visually impaired.
Electric boilers are not that good from all I've heard.

i dont have an existing gas supply and so am wondering wether to invest in a new gas pipe from british gas

The supply pipes are not owned by BG, but National Grid.

Gfch is much less expensive than electric.

 

[Servotech]

im wondering what peoples experiences are with electric boilers, reliability etc.
i dont have an existing gas supply and so am wondering wether to invest in a new gas pipe from british gas or to go for an electric boiler. please help me.

Electric boilers are very effeciant reliable and need hardly any maintenance.
Maybe this helps to offset the higher running cost when compared to gas.

Aztec are very good and I wouldn't personally bother undating the system to unvented (keep it conventional).
Plumbing is a simple job and should be kept as simple as possible, complicate it and sooner or later you're heading for big trouble.

Servotech,

 

[gassafeengineer]

im wondering what peoples experiences are with electric boilers, reliability etc.
i dont have an existing gas supply and so am wondering wether to invest in a new gas pipe from british gas or to go for an electric boiler. please help me.

Electric boilers are very effeciant reliable and need hardly any maintenance.
Maybe this helps to offset the higher running cost when compared to gas.

Aztec are very good and I wouldn't personally bother undating the system to unvented (keep it conventional).
Plumbing is a simple job and should be kept as simple as possible, complicate it and sooner or later you're heading for big trouble.

Servotech,

remember trianco went under and now is TR Engineering

not a good sign is it really

 

[xr4x4]

Is there a funny smell in here?

 

[kevplumb]

aztecs aint bad if you have no gas

 

[bengasman]

I have never understood the point of electic boilers.
Why would you generate heat electrically at one point, and then use pipes to move that heat to a radiator when you can simply stick an electric heater half the size of the rad on the wall at a fraction of the cost?

 

[Corgigrouch]

I take care of a fair few Gledhill electramates, would I have one in my home?...... Hell No!

Oddly enough, Gledhill also went bust but a company supplying Gledhill spares has risen from the ashes.... I'll bet that they are doing very well.

One option if you want to stay electric then perhaps air to air heat pumps for room heating and a good sized direct unvented cylinder running on economy seven

 

[kevplumb]

now that makes sense

 

[Nige F]

There isn't a simple answer to a question like that, there are so many variables.

.

ask a simple man - who`s not Gas Safe registered - get a simple answer If they burn gas to produce electricity - how can electricity be a cheaper fuel

 

[bengasman]

If they burn gas to produce electricity - how can electricity be a cheaper fuel

Because they also use nuclear power to generate leccie.
Oh forgot, that is even more expensive.
It must be "free" energy from wind and sun then. Oops, forgot, that costs twice as much.
Coal is cheaper.