Which type of central heating to go for?

amancalledmartin · 31 December 2010 at 10:47AM

I would avoid night storage unless you're in much of the day. Very difficult to control in my experience and slow to respond also. And don't go for underfloor heating. Sounds posh and amazing. Isn't.

Pincher · 31 December 2010 at 9:30PM

sloan wrote: »

Does anyone know anything about horizontal heat exchange pumps and underfloor heating? We are extending our house and want to change the system. We have a field at the back.

http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/publications/infosource/pub/home/Heating_and_Cooling_with_a_Heat_Pump_Section4.cfm

davecampbell · 1 January 2011 at 12:15AM

Wait and see if the RHI makes it more viable to install a biomass fuel boiler or heat pump etc?

SD-253 · 1 January 2011 at 4:41PM

RomaN wrote: »

Hello all,

RomaN wrote: »

Me and my girlfriend have recently bought a house which we both adore. The only downside to the house is that there is no central heating currently in the property. There is a fireplace in the living room which is fed by gas cannisters that sit outside. When it gets a bit chilly we put this on and it does the job of heating the room up. Our bedroom is directly above the living room and we find that the fireplace does the job of heating the bedroom up to a certain degree as well.

The one thing we would prefer is to have a central heating system that:

a) Worked on a timer so that we could come home from work to have it on.
b) Heated up all the rooms.

Where we live there is no gas in the area as I would have preferred to have installed GCH (don't worry, I knew this before we bought the property)

Now my friend who convientley lives next door has oil central heating that was installed by the previous owner. Would this be the way to go? How much should we be looking at to have the heating system installed? Can source out the rads/boiler from a friend but was wondering how much we should be looking at purely for the installation costs

This should help you work out which to go for.
A/ LPG give you 7.11 kw
B/ Oil gives you 10.35 Kw
Therefore Gas has to be 30% less than oil before it is cheaper. BUT This is based on 100% efficiency which clearly isn't possible. I would suggest finding out the actually efficiency of gas and oil boilers first. If they are not the same you would have to adjust the 30% rule.
ALSO You will have to look at the installation cost which are more than just the tank costs. With LPG you rent the tank once it has been installed the normal price is £60 a year. You are responsible for oil tanks. My neighbor a builders says expect to pay £700 for the oil tank.
ALSO With oil you are not tied into a 2 year contract BUT due to the competition authority at the end of the LPG contract if you change suppliers the previous supplier MUST SELL THE TANK TO THE NEW SUPPLIER at a preset price.
Now as I already have LPG all of the latter was irrelevant to me as there is no way changing would be worth it.

Reference remarks about Economy 7. This is quite a good option to consider I know of few people who use it and consider it to be cheap AND YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE IN ALL DAY. The storage heaters can be set to minimum while you are out which will reduce its output/cost considerably. BUT you need to have separate wiring systems because of the high KW use. AND if the electric goes off for a considerably amount of time during the night you will have no heat at all. A back up is therefore necessary. Mobile gas convector heater for instance. NOTE I have Economy 7 (not for heating) and the cost are roughly 10p a KW during the day and 3p a KW overnight. Therefore 7.11 KW times 3p = 21.33p well below half of the price of LPG with considerably less variation in price. Furthermore 100% efficiency. Electricity used overnight is mainly made up of electricity which would be wasted or put another way has no environmental impact!!

SD-253 · 1 January 2011 at 5:16PM

shegar wrote: »

How many storage heaters do you have ? I use to have them and it cost me £50 per WEEK :eek: including hot water and that was 9 yrs ago.....perhaps you dont have many on ..........

I can see no reason why he would be lying?? If he says £50 a month.....maybe it is £50 a month maybe you left them on unnecessarily while he puts some effort into checking weather forecast etc

shegar · 1 January 2011 at 5:49PM

brandeberryj wrote: »

I can see no reason why he would be lying?? If he says £50 a month.....maybe it is £50 a month maybe you left them on unnecessarily while he puts some effort into checking weather forecast etc

Going back on K66 post, I am not implying that he his lying.......I merely wrote that £50 per week for a 3 bed detached house and hot water works out £12.00 per week or £1.30 per day ............... which seems too good to be true ...........??Perhaps they are really on low setting or he has not got them all on ...............

...........as like I said I paid £50 per week for a 3 bed detached well insulated house........

I had them for 18 YEARS so in that time Im quite satisfied that I knew how to use them and not waste heat..........they just do not work efficiently and are not economical form of heating.....

SD-253 · 4 January 2011 at 1:00PM

shegar wrote: »

Going back on K66 post, I am not implying that he his lying.......I merely wrote that £50 per week for a 3 bed detached house and hot water works out £12.00 per week or £1.30 per day ............... which seems too good to be true ...........??Perhaps they are really on low setting or he has not got them all on ...............

Which seems too good to be true for storage heating...........as like I said I paid £50 per week for a 3 bed detached well insulated house........

I had them for 18 YEARS so in that time Im quite satisfied that I knew how to use them and not waste heat..........they just do not work efficiently and are not economical form of heating.....

As stated a liter of LPG cost me 48p at the moment and it gives you 7.11 KW while electric costs 3p on economy 7 setting. Therefore 7.11 times 3p = 21.33p well below half the price of LPG with considerably less variation in price. Therefore economy 7 is massively cheaper. And will continue to do so as electricity overnight is wasted. Now I may have done the figures wrong, if you can show me how please do. Also note if you "fill" the economy 7 heaters with heat and set them on off although heat will escape they will still have some heat in them the following day as the new ones have very much better insulation values than the old ones. So the only heat escaping while you are out is very small possible just enough to keep the chill of the room. Furthermore checked with someone who has economy 7 heaters (2 bed bungalow) and £100 is his bill per month in the winter.
PS my electric bill is £21 a month no heating (although the occasional use of heater in the garage) and very rarely use the hot water as my shower is electric and washing machine is cold water fill. I boil a kettle (electric in summer and a mainly of the wood burner in the winter) for washing. 2 bed bungalow how do other people’s bills compare to this??

SD-253 · 4 January 2011 at 1:32PM

RomaN wrote: »

Hello all,
How much should we be looking at to have the heating system installed? Can source out the rads/boiler from a friend but was wondering how much we should be looking at purely for the installation costs

The important question that was being asked was the cost which no one seems to be answering, including myself.
Firstly my system was changed from a gas fire in the fireplace with back boiler (ancient baxi very inefficient but will last forever) to no fire and a boiler in the attic this cost £3300 to do, yes honest. Now as part of this was paid by a grant I think the company was overcharging. Also there was some extra cost and some reductions in cost IE the radiators were already in place but the fire/boiler had to be disconnected and a new one put in the attic and the pipe work moved with the attendant costs. You need to get as many quotes as possible but always make sure you tell them which parts you are supplying as they maybe making a profit on them. DO NOT RUSH INTO IT As inevitably you will find other ways to do it the more you look. A wood fire which I put into the empty fire place (no radiators £2200 fitted) would appear a poor purchase but as I knew where I could get FREE WOOD for a couple of years it turned out to be a fantastic bargain as I have virtually paid for it by a huge reduction in LPG use BUT paying for wood would have had the opposite effect where I live wood is far more costly than oil lpg coal you name it. As I have another year of free wood I am in profit big time. So check and check again to see all the possibilities

Cardew · 4 January 2011 at 3:55PM

brandeberryj wrote: »

Reference remarks about Economy 7. This is quite a good option to consider I know of few people who use it and consider it to be cheap AND YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE IN ALL DAY. The storage heaters can be set to minimum while you are out which will reduce its output/cost considerably. BUT you need to have separate wiring systems because of the high KW use. AND if the electric goes off for a considerably amount of time during the night you will have no heat at all. A back up is therefore necessary. Mobile gas convector heater for instance. NOTE I have Economy 7 (not for heating) and the cost are roughly 10p a KW during the day and 3p a KW overnight. Therefore 7.11 KW times 3p = 21.33p well below half of the price of LPG with considerably less variation in price. Furthermore 100% efficiency. Electricity used overnight is mainly made up of electricity which would be wasted or put another way has no environmental impact!!

Whilst I agree with the thrust of your post and would not dispute that storage heaters can be a viable heating system, I would take issue with you on your comments on Economy 7 prices.

I don't know of any company with an Economy 7 tariff where off peak costs 3p/kWh

A more typical price is 4.5p to 5p/kWh and 11p to 12p/kWh(I am aware that Scottish Power have a cheap pre-increase deal) and then there is the standing charge - either daily or a tier 1 allocation.

Nearly every post on here about storage heating complains that they simply run out of heat in the evening. That ties in with my experience that they simply 'leaked heat' during even when maximum input was selected and set to minimum output during the day.

Shedgirl · 4 January 2011 at 11:00PM

Storage heaters are lost in old houses I think. My parents have them and they work really well but they are in a tiny modern super-insulated sheltered housing type place. I live in a chilly cottage and mine are pretty redundant and bloody expensive! In fact I've come to the conclusion that insulation is the first priority...then, lpg or oil boiler? Havent decided yet. Are you any further forward?

Which type of central heating to go for?

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