Electric Central Heating?
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BERGS2

Original Poster:

2,839 posts

278 months

Sunday 24th October 2010
quotequote all
Hi All -

Just looked at a house yesterday - total 70's throwback - which was quite interesting.

Apparently, the old owner worked for the electric board - and the house has electric central heating.

One the energy efficiency graph - it has a score of 1 and a potential of 1 confused



Couple of q's to the PH massive:

1) How much (beermat) to install a complete gas system? (4 bed house)
2) Does anyone have experience of heating using electric? looks like it would cost a small fortune!

thanks in advance!

BERGS

Mad Dave

7,158 posts

293 months

Sunday 24th October 2010
quotequote all
I saw a brochure for a company called ROINTE who provide electric central heating systems which they claim are more efficient and cheaper to run than gas central heating. I was very tempted to buy a system myself but never did. Worth checking out.

Tuna

19,930 posts

314 months

Sunday 24th October 2010
quotequote all
Per kWh, gas is hugely cheaper than electricity, so it doesn't really matter how efficient a new heating system is - electricity will cost more to run.

This is a regularly updated comparison of the major heating methods:

http://www.nottenergy.com/energy-costs-comparison3

You're looking at 12.83pence per kWh for electricity, compared to 3.98pence on standard rate gas.

As for replacing your existing system, a lot depends on what you can re-use and what you put in - how long is a piece of string? You can also spend more on a system to get lower running costs, or go for things like underfloor heating if your house is suitable.


BERGS2

Original Poster:

2,839 posts

278 months

Sunday 24th October 2010
quotequote all
Tuna said:
You're looking at 12.83pence per kWh for electricity, compared to 3.98pence on standard rate gas.

As for replacing your existing system, a lot depends on what you can re-use and what you put in - how long is a piece of string? You can also spend more on a system to get lower running costs, or go for things like underfloor heating if your house is suitable.
ouch! - that's useful info - thanks.

In terms re-using existing system - there isn't one - its literally all electric - so would mean:

Condensor Combi Boiler £900
All the pipework & drilling required to fit (mostly labour cost) - £1000??
All the rads (guess 8 - 10 in total) another grand
Roomstats & Control unit ???

At a guess - I'm feeling little change from £5k as a minimum... but would welcome anyone elses experience...

homeimprovements

196 posts

205 months

Sunday 24th October 2010
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Around about the 4.5k mark but do you want a combi in a 4 bed house. Has it got en-suites or just one bathroom?


Bungleaio

6,589 posts

232 months

Sunday 24th October 2010
quotequote all
As others have said between 4 and 5K will get you a system installed.

The EPC graphs aren't very accurate, any house can be brought up to any level given enough money.

caziques

2,847 posts

198 months

Sunday 24th October 2010
quotequote all
Mad Dave said:
I saw a brochure for a company called ROINTE who provide electric central heating systems which they claim are more efficient and cheaper to run than gas central heating. I was very tempted to buy a system myself but never did. Worth checking out.
The Rointe website is very misleading, they are claiming the time units are switched off as savings!

More relevant is the energy costs comparison site - it's quite possible to have an electric powered system using a heat pump that costs a similar amount to run as gas.

The Lukas

2,773 posts

224 months

Sunday 24th October 2010
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We have the problem of having no natural gas in our area. What are our options?

caziques

2,847 posts

198 months

Monday 25th October 2010
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Three main options, oil, bottled gas, heat pump(s).

Suggest you steer clear of bottled gas.

Oil will do anything you want and you'll get plenty of installers in the UK who understand it.

Heat pumps could be the way to go, probably best to start your own thread with some details such as age of house, location, size, insulation etc etc and advice should be forthcoming.

andy43

13,272 posts

284 months

Monday 25th October 2010
quotequote all
BERGS2 said:
Hi All -

Just looked at a house yesterday - total 70's throwback - which was quite interesting.

Apparently, the old owner worked for the electric board - and the house has electric central heating.

One the energy efficiency graph - it has a score of 1 and a potential of 1 confused



Couple of q's to the PH massive:

1) How much (beermat) to install a complete gas system? (4 bed house)
2) Does anyone have experience of heating using electric? looks like it would cost a small fortune!

thanks in advance!

BERGS
You need to find out if the house has a gas supply - meter/capped pipe/whatever - if it doesn't you'd need to factor in the utilities company cost to lay a new supply. What that cost is, I'm afraid I've no idea nuts

onomatopoeia

3,526 posts

247 months

Monday 25th October 2010
quotequote all
andy43 said:
You need to find out if the house has a gas supply - meter/capped pipe/whatever - if it doesn't you'd need to factor in the utilities company cost to lay a new supply. What that cost is, I'm afraid I've no idea nuts
If there's a gas main in the road it's not too bad (six hundred quid or so). I didn't realise until I sold my house and the buyers said they were getting mains gas put in, when I looked 10 years ago it was three grand up.

See http://www.nationalgrid.com/NR/rdonlyres/D908F171-...

Deva Link

26,934 posts

275 months

Monday 25th October 2010
quotequote all
I read on another forum about a University property department that is installing a lot of OSO electric boilers - the suggestion was electric boilers were less maintenance than gas and they take away the gas and carbon monoxide safety fears.

No idea on running costs - the post suggested that wasn't a consideration as the students pay the bills themselves.