Gas Vs Electricity Advice Needed!!!

naeem75

I am renovating a flat to rent out and am thinking about installing electric only and doing away with gas completely in the background of rising gas prices (e.g recent price hikes of upto 35%). I wonder what the economics of such a change will be?, from installation point of view and usage. Its a 1-bed flat so won't have major heating requirements. I can't seem to get my head around costings. On the face of it makes sense to have electric only since I will be able to install electric heaters. I will only need two heaters one in the lounge and one in bedroom. It will be simpler e.g the tenant will only have one bill to worry about and I am not sure If installing Gas boiler would be any cheaper since the savings in cheaper gas price gets somewhat ofset with two-tier tariff system. i.e you pay higher tarif to start with so in effect you end up paying for the standing charge. So if I have gas and electric the tenant will end up paying for two standing orders. Since its a small flat with modest heating requirements and for the sake of simplicity it makes sense to have electric only. Am I Correct in my logic or am I missing something ? If someone could quantify the effects of having gas and electric OR electric only I would appreciate that??? Any thoughts????

Antispam

The large proportion of our electricity is made from Gas. Gas is cheaper to use for heating than electricity

Please dont write in large fonts there really is no need for it

whatatwit

A lot of landlords choose electric only then they do not need to have a gas boiler serviced and the gas safety certificate done each year.

Magentasue

If I was looking to rent, I would avoid all-electric unless the property was exceptional and there wasn't an electric/gas place available.

Gas heating/water heating has always proved the cheaper/more convenient option in the houses we've lived in.

Premier_2

Advantage of electric heating? Low capital investment and no legally required annual inspection costs - great for a LL

Disadvantage of electric heating? Huge bills - but then the LL probably won't be paying them. Not so great for the poor tenant though!
If heating is via storage heaters, then also less controllable; if not storage heaters then even higher heating costs.
As a comparison, even after recent price rises, gas is still typically less than 1/3 the cost of electricity per kWh.

You say you only plan to install 2 heaters - I presume these are storage heaters as you'll need heating in the bathroom and probably the kitchen too.

Regarding one bill or two, well have you heard of duel fuel tariffs?

Regarding standing charges, have you heard about non-standing charge tariffs?

Regarding two tier tariffs, these usually only apply to non-standing charge tariffs (the higher tier 1 rate effectively paying the standing charge as you say). This affects both gas and electricity.
There is also a supplier that offers no standing charge and simple 1 rate for all consumption, particularly suitable for low users or those on pre-payment meters.

Are you correct in your logic? Well you decide.
Based on what it would cost you and therefore your immediate gain, perhaps you are, but balance this against the desirability of the property to tenants and therefore the rental income you could probably attract as other posters have indicated.

naeem75

Antispam >> sorry about large font

So the consensus opinion is to have both gas and electric. I am also looking at some alternative eco systems since I am starting with clean slate. The flat is well insulated so should be quite heat efficient. I thought of looking into CHP (combined heat and power) system (run on gas) but very expensive at the moment and unsuitable for small properties, maybe in few years time!.

Good point about duel fuel savings which will be unavailable to electric only consumer and marketability of the flat. I guess I'll be Gas and electric for now.

thanks for your help

MRF

I was in a similar position last year and would take the following into consideration:

• Previous posters suggested huge bills - yes this is true but remember its a relative statement. In a one bed flat the difference between gas and electric is minimal.
• It also depends on how efficient the electric central heating is i.e. storage is useless for a working professional. Whilst seperately timed individual radiators would be very cost effective
• Installing GCH from scratch is massively invasive, and may require additional works as a result. This will be individual to your flat
• Yes some tenants may prefer gas, but I think thats an individual view. Anyone thats been into Europe, or followed the fuel choice in new builds will see electric is gaining popularity
• Yes the majority is produced from gas. This will change. Period. As it stands electric is not increasing at the same rate as gas
• I pay 25 per month, probably 30 now for everything on electric. I have 3 rads, bedroom, bathroom and lounge, all on seperate timers, the immersion heater also has its own timer. No cavity wall, but thick curtains and double glazing save money there. It cost me about £800 to put in
• Gas would've been nearly £3.5k,

Hope this helps

naeem75

Thanks very much MRF :money: that reply was really helpful. My gut feeling was tilting more towards electric only option, purely because of some of the factors you have mentioned, i.e Small flat size, ease of installation, scaleability, simpler cheaper to run. In larger properties definitely GAS and Elecy is the choice but smaller flats maybe electric only will be just as viable and enviromently friendly too.

prunus

We've had a lot of different types of heating over the years: open fires; gas central heating; coal backburner central heating; anthracite boiler in the garage central heating; and oil central heating, briefly.

For over twenty years now we've had nothing but economy 7 storage radiators and have been very happy with them, not least because they keep the place warm 24 hours a day. They have many advantages: they are cheap to put in and easy enough to move around. They don't need servicing or any attention other than setting the level of heat required for the next day. They last a lot longer than boilers.

They are dear to run, of course. But given the level of repair and servicing bills experienced by those with modern gas boilers, I feel confident in saying that in the long term they balance out favourably.

Hope this helps.

BexTech

Magentasue wrote: »

If I was looking to rent, I would avoid all-electric unless the property was exceptional and there wasn't an electric/gas place available.

Gas heating/water heating has always proved the cheaper/more convenient option in the houses we've lived in.

Same here, we would avoid all electric where possible.

Our first home was in a tower block so had to have all electric as they brought in the ban on gas in high-rises. Bleeding E7 storage heaters - yes they were brand-new installed when we moved in, but was so glad when we moved and were shot of the awful storage heaters.