Converting Gas Boiler to Electric
Discussion
Am I missing something and this is a good idea or is it a stupid idea as electric is nearly 4 times the price per kWh. I like the idea as it would free up some wall space in the kitchen and allow me to get rid of the hot water tank in the airing cupboard. I keep getting ads from Fischer and have asked for a brochure. Anyone done this and would recommend it?
I contemplated this for a while
I decided to keep the gas boiler as it’s cheaper to run and is working
Have some electric oil rads tucked behind sofas etc these are on smart plugs. Have one behind where my wife sits in the morning, it keeps her warmer as it’s close, so she’s happier
We half half price electric at weekends
I decided to keep the gas boiler as it’s cheaper to run and is working
Have some electric oil rads tucked behind sofas etc these are on smart plugs. Have one behind where my wife sits in the morning, it keeps her warmer as it’s close, so she’s happier
We half half price electric at weekends
Don t do it
I have a electric boiler and its crap, its brand new, it uses 12KW of electric a hour and having the heating on for a couple of hours a day costs £10-12 per day in a house with a EPC C raiting
Electric bill is about £250-300 a month so far this winter and in the old house we spent £75 on gas to keep the house with a EPC C raiting at 21 degrees
Stick with gas for sure, or if you fancy electric get a heat pump
I have a electric boiler and its crap, its brand new, it uses 12KW of electric a hour and having the heating on for a couple of hours a day costs £10-12 per day in a house with a EPC C raiting
Electric bill is about £250-300 a month so far this winter and in the old house we spent £75 on gas to keep the house with a EPC C raiting at 21 degrees
Stick with gas for sure, or if you fancy electric get a heat pump
Although this isn't a boiler story, when my ex and I remodelled our kitchen, she wanted UFH however without digging up the concrete to lay the pipework, our only option was electrical UFH that lay very flat and could easily be topped over with an epoxy based self-levelling compound.
Our bill for the first 3 months was £800. I'm not kidding. It was never switched on again.
Our bill for the first 3 months was £800. I'm not kidding. It was never switched on again.
Spydaman said:
Am I missing something and this is a good idea or is it a stupid idea as electric is nearly 4 times the price per kWh. I like the idea as it would free up some wall space in the kitchen and allow me to get rid of the hot water tank in the airing cupboard. I keep getting ads from Fischer and have asked for a brochure. Anyone done this and would recommend it?
An electric combi will be quite a bit dearer to run if the house is inefficient but the other thing to consider, I believe, is that it can only heat water at the power of your mains supply. I think that's normally around 10kwh which is fine for heating but quite useless for showers and baths. Simpo Two said:
Funny to think that, if our electricity tariffs are to be believed, everyone is on '100% green sustainable' energy so it should be almost free...
Yes while energy may be free, the companies providing it still want to pay for the solar farms, wind farms, nuclear plants and that’s before you add the governments green taxes and net zero levy and handouts, for instance my neiboughs, they are millionaires and have just had a 40k grant to have their farmhouse insulated, solar panels, battery system; heat pump, all the replastering, woodwork etc done to get the house from a EPC of F to a BWhat gets me is gas is VAT free and electric isn’t?
dingg said:
Electricity is 100% efficient what you put in you get out
Otoh, modern gas boilers are about 90% efficient so you lose 10% ,so gas still well ahead.
You'd be mad to make the change
You get out a lot more than you put in with a heat pump.Otoh, modern gas boilers are about 90% efficient so you lose 10% ,so gas still well ahead.
You'd be mad to make the change
I'd still rather keep my gas boiler, but it's nothing like as clear-cut as you state.
There's a few things you could do to make an electric combi make more sense.
You'd ideally need a thermal store. These are usually like big water tanks but you can get phase-change which are more undercounter fridge-sized in shape. You heat them with off peak electricity (as cheap as 7p/kWh if you have an EV) or solar, then water is pre-heated before entering the combi and topped up. Probably best for just doing hot water.
If you need heating then you're in luck, government just added a grant for Air to Air heatpumps (air conditioning) to get rid of has boilers.
So your electric combi would really just be for hot water, and maybe extremely cold days run heating (at significant cost), but most your hot water would be met by thermal storage and space heating by the A2A heatpumps.
See SunAmp thermal stores. Hooked up to even a small solar array with no AC inverter they would be quite cheap to run.
You'd ideally need a thermal store. These are usually like big water tanks but you can get phase-change which are more undercounter fridge-sized in shape. You heat them with off peak electricity (as cheap as 7p/kWh if you have an EV) or solar, then water is pre-heated before entering the combi and topped up. Probably best for just doing hot water.
If you need heating then you're in luck, government just added a grant for Air to Air heatpumps (air conditioning) to get rid of has boilers.
So your electric combi would really just be for hot water, and maybe extremely cold days run heating (at significant cost), but most your hot water would be met by thermal storage and space heating by the A2A heatpumps.
See SunAmp thermal stores. Hooked up to even a small solar array with no AC inverter they would be quite cheap to run.
Simpo Two said:
Funny to think that, if our electricity tariffs are to be believed, everyone is on '100% green sustainable' energy so it should be almost free...
Electric is the worst thing you can use for heating. Replacing the cheapest method of hassle-free heating with the worst is about as bonkers as it gets. It's about that time of year when all the heat pump evangelists go quiet as their £500 per month electric bills start landing as there isn't enough heat in the air or ground to work and so they have to convert electric into heat. It's like we've gone back in time 50 years and undone all the progress.
I had a lot of solar panels installed on my roof 2½ years ago, and for 7-ish months of the year an electric combi might make sense but in the winter all those gains would be lost. I'd be pulling so much from the electric-grid, it'd cost me more overall.
Maybe if we lived somewhere sunnier.
Or maybe a boiler with both electrical and gas heaters. Imagine when something goes wrong though.
My solar array replaced a much smaller one that was there when I bought the house. I still have the older panels lying idle behind my garage, and I was thinking I could Install those panels on the garden shelter attached to my house. I could replace the immersion heater in the hot water tank with an AC/DC variant, and power it directly from the DC output of the solar array...
... if I had a hot water tank. I have a combi boiler and no tank.
Installing a tank in the loft and converting the combi boiler to be a "system" boiler seems possible from what I've read on-line but no-one local enough to come out to me seems willing to take on the work. It'd suit me better than a combi too - I have two showers in the house but the combi can't supply to both simultaneously. A pressurised tank system would work brilliantly here, and you can totally oversize the hot water tank for very little additional cost.
I'm still considering that but I'm not going to convert my gas boiler to electricity. The numbers just don't stack up in the UK... yet. I suppose one govt or another will eventually make gas so unpalatable that we all will look to switch.
Maybe if we lived somewhere sunnier.
Or maybe a boiler with both electrical and gas heaters. Imagine when something goes wrong though.
My solar array replaced a much smaller one that was there when I bought the house. I still have the older panels lying idle behind my garage, and I was thinking I could Install those panels on the garden shelter attached to my house. I could replace the immersion heater in the hot water tank with an AC/DC variant, and power it directly from the DC output of the solar array...
... if I had a hot water tank. I have a combi boiler and no tank.
Installing a tank in the loft and converting the combi boiler to be a "system" boiler seems possible from what I've read on-line but no-one local enough to come out to me seems willing to take on the work. It'd suit me better than a combi too - I have two showers in the house but the combi can't supply to both simultaneously. A pressurised tank system would work brilliantly here, and you can totally oversize the hot water tank for very little additional cost.
I'm still considering that but I'm not going to convert my gas boiler to electricity. The numbers just don't stack up in the UK... yet. I suppose one govt or another will eventually make gas so unpalatable that we all will look to switch.
Quattr04. said:
Yes while energy may be free, the companies providing it still want to pay for the solar farms, wind farms, nuclear plants and that s before you add the governments green taxes and net zero levy and handouts, for instance my neiboughs, they are millionaires and have just had a 40k grant to have their farmhouse insulated, solar panels, battery system; heat pump, all the replastering, woodwork etc done to get the house from a EPC of F to a B
What gets me is gas is VAT free and electric isn t?
The VAT rate on Gas is 5% exactly the same as electricity What gets me is gas is VAT free and electric isn t?
It’s worth it in my opinion getting the conversion to system boiler if you have those spare panels lying around. I used solar thermal store over a decade ago (pressurised hot water cylinder on system boiler) and would go that way again, sort of hybrid.
Worth noting that while electric boilers aren’t maintenance free, gas systems are more complex and use combustion so it’s worth considering the cost to maintain a wet gas system versus electric direct heating / electric water heating etc.
I expect gas will always win out in the long term cost wise just due to lower cost of the resource (at the moment), but it could be the case within our lifetimes the govt (Milliband) go the way of diesel (like they did with gas) and squeeze electric only onto everyone in the end to allow them to control net zero targets….
Worth noting that while electric boilers aren’t maintenance free, gas systems are more complex and use combustion so it’s worth considering the cost to maintain a wet gas system versus electric direct heating / electric water heating etc.
I expect gas will always win out in the long term cost wise just due to lower cost of the resource (at the moment), but it could be the case within our lifetimes the govt (Milliband) go the way of diesel (like they did with gas) and squeeze electric only onto everyone in the end to allow them to control net zero targets….
I am likely to install a (domestic) 3-phase electric boiler in a commercial unit.
The only reasons it makes sense in that setting are:
1) There is almost no hot water usage (literally nothing for potentially weeks at a time) but the possibility that 100l or so might be needed in one go;
2) It avoids the need for a tank (saves space and avoids the heat losses associated with maintaining the temperature of this);
3) It reduces the cost of installation.
4) It offers low maintenance costs and easy replacement if it fails.
Would I do it for home? No way.
The crazy thing is that these could end up being popular with landlords if they’re a way to increase EPC ratings.
The only reasons it makes sense in that setting are:
1) There is almost no hot water usage (literally nothing for potentially weeks at a time) but the possibility that 100l or so might be needed in one go;
2) It avoids the need for a tank (saves space and avoids the heat losses associated with maintaining the temperature of this);
3) It reduces the cost of installation.
4) It offers low maintenance costs and easy replacement if it fails.
Would I do it for home? No way.
The crazy thing is that these could end up being popular with landlords if they’re a way to increase EPC ratings.
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