Converting Fuel to Gas

CrazyHorse_3

We are about to move to a house with oil fueled heating and was wondering if anyone knows what is involved and the approximate costs of converting the house to gas... (there is gas in the area!)

cheers ..

Cardew

Welcome,

That really is a 'how long is a piece of string question'.

Provided your current system(radiators/pump etc) is compatible the main costs will be getting a gas supply piped to your house, meter fitted and a new boiler. Then getting rid of old boiler and tank.

Your new boiler might fit where the old one was situated, or you might have a combi boiler(usually hung on the wall in kitchen/utility room)

There are far more regulations now concerning venting of boilers etc so some modifications might be needed.

I suggest you get British Gas to give you an estimate with full breakdown of costs; the estimate shouldn't cost. They will inevitably be one of the most expensive companies but it will give you a ballpark figure on which to work. It will be BG(or one of their contractors like Transco) who will have to run the gas to your house anyway and fit a meter.

As said above it is impossible to estimate the costs involved - there are so many variables - but it is obviously going to be pretty expensive and could be several thousand pounds.

inmypocketnottheirs

Personally I would stick with oil. Even though oil prices for domestic heating oil have gone up, so has gas and electricity. The way you buy your oil is the critical point. You can phone around suppliers and negotiate prices, often saving 2-5p per litre. Also it is cheaper to buy heating oil now than say in October as demand is less.

I think if I were you I would stick with the oil for a year or so and I think you may be surprised at how economical it is. Also you could ask the seller where they buy from, how often they buy, what quanitites they have delivered etc.

This should give you a good idea.

HTH

Cardew

Re sticking with oil, I would certainly look at the figures to see if it makes economic sense to spend a lot of money converting to gas.

At current prices oil CH is about 50% more expensive than gas CH. However who knows what will happen in the future. That differential could increase or decrease.

If it is to cost, say, couple of thousand pounds to convert to gas, it will take you a long while to recover those costs; especially if you take into account the cost of borrowing the money for the conversion.(or the loss of interest on savings)

CrazyHorse_3

Thanks for you help, i'll give British Gas a ring. One of the biggest reasons for changing is not cost - my wife is Chinese and can't imagine cooking on an electric cooker. A couple of thousand would be money well spent, just for the food!

Thanks again.

the_gasman_2

LPG gas is very expensive and putting in mains gas if the pipes are not in ground already will be a big job.
However,
Your other option if you only want a cooker/hob to run on gas is to have a hob fitted and run it from a 47kg LPG gas cylinder. This will probably be the cheapest way and least messy.
Obviously if you have mains gas then enquire about having a gas meter fitted. I am sure it won't be cheap though