electric v gas

[deuce22]

Hi.

I will be building a property very shortly and would like to know some information on using electric as the energy supply.

A builder that I speak to said that he was now going down the route of having an all electric house due to the rise in gas costs.

Is this a good way forward or will it cost a fortune.

Thanks.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

I would still say gas was keeper than electric.
If you were going down the micro-generation route, using the feed back tariff in time that could be cost effective.

 

[big-all]

electric around 3 or 4 times the price per kw even allowing for losses off 25-33% its still less than half the price

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I will be building a property very shortly and would like to know some information on using electric as the energy supply.

Use it to power a GSHP...

 

[Stoday]

If your builder mate is building town houses of around 75 m² then he's probably right. Building regulations have increased the insulation requirements significantly in the last few years. Now heat losses from this type of house are so low that the fixed costs associated with gas more than offset the lower kWh cost compared with electricity. Fixed losses include pump loss, combustion loss, gas tariff standing charges, servicing & maintenance costs.

Your architect will have had to supply building control with a detailed heat loss calculation for your house. Get him to do two calculations, one with gas heating and the other with a GSHP (if feasible) or ASHP if not. Then see how much each will cost to run.

Anyone who tries forecast next year's energy prices must have used a good good crystal ball; anyone who forecasts energy prices 10 years ahead has got it seriously wrong. On the other hand, there is a link between gas and electricity prices, so the ratio of the two is likely to not change much.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Particularly if we keep burning gas to make electricity.

deuce22 - if you do go for gas, look into getting a CHP boiler.

 

[dcawkwell]

Ground source heating would be cheap to run on electric but the kits
and installation is very expensive.

Gas is cheaper and I would expect it to remain cheaper than electric
to heat the home.

Take a look at air source heating this will be a cheap to run as gas
and potentially more reliable.

Air con is another option.

 

[JohnW2]

If your builder mate is building town houses of around 75 m² ....

Goodness, do they build houses that small?! That sounds like two floors each a bit less than 4 x 4 metres total x 2.5 metres high.

Kind Regards, John.

 

[EFLImpudence]

It's not volume, John.

 

[JohnW2]

It's not volume, John.

Damnit - I clearly should have gone to Specsavers - my eyes were sure that they saw " 75 m³ "!

That extra factor of 2.5 makes all the difference in terms of credibility!

Kind Regards, John.

 

[ColJack]

you could always fit solar panels to the entire roof and then the electric is even cheaper for you ( if you don't count the initial cost of the installation.. ) and use that electric to power a GSHP or ASHP..

you could use gas to power a gas turbine generator to provide your electric and the heat from the generator to heat the house / water..

 

[ban-all-sheds]

That extra factor of 2.5 makes all the difference in terms of credibility!

I'm the proud owner of an IP65 (or summat - external,anyway) enclosure of tremendous proportions which I bought on eBay many moons ago.

The seller had measured it in inches and then described it in cm.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

you could use gas to power a gas turbine generator....

I think an external combustion engine would be more appropriate for a single domestic dwelling...

 

[JohnW2]

I'm the proud owner of an IP65 (or summat - external,anyway) enclosure of tremendous proportions which I bought on eBay many moons ago. The seller had measured it in inches and then described it in cm.

At least you got good value for money then, even if probably a product which was of no use to you

Kind REgards, John.

 

[JohnW2]

I think an external combustion engine would be more appropriate for a single domestic dwelling...

Steam engine?

Kind Regards, John.