Gas vs Electricity

rocketron44

Hi All

My first post so here goes, when someone asks the question which is cheapest/best option to go for it appears to me that most "informed" people always go with gas, but I have come to the conclusion that gas is not as readily available as it used to be ie North Sea and we controlled the tap. This winter at it's worst major users of gas had to stop using it, as the gas supply becomes less i think the Goverment will give priority to Power Generators which use gas to generate electricity, so is the best option now not what is cheapest form of energy but which one will be available at the flick of a switch.

Owain_Moneysaver

The Government generally gives gas priority to domestic users because it is so dangerous to disconnect households - it only needs one pilot light with a sticky flame failure device in an unoccupied house to go bang and take out all the neighbouring houses. Therefore heavy users of gas face disconnection because they can be safety turned off and back on again.

The answer is to wean power users (particularly electricity generation) off gas and leave it available for domestic heating, which it does best.

The electricity supply network is only 50% efficient end to end anyway, so increasing the electricity load is an extremely inefficient use of resources.

Pincher

I have always considered the whole Gas Central Heating concept as flawed. The loft tank, radiators and pipes leak and ruin the decor. The gas can leak and kill, either by poisoning or explosion. It does not ventilate and remove moisture, and it does not cool in the summer.

Air ducts don't take up that much space, especially with new builds where you can build them into the walls. You don't need expensive qualified plumbers to install them. Air ducts allow the possibility of heat recovery, ventilation and moisture control.

With the 300% efficiency afforded by air source and ground source heat pumps, the price per kilowatt is similar to gas. The added benefit is you can use the heat pump in reverse for cooling during the summer. The air ducts concentrate at the heat recovery unit in the loft, and it's easy to add the heat/cool exchanger from the heatpump in line to heat/cool the fresh air going to the rooms. There are very few mechanical parts, so we are looking at a few of fans, a refrigerant pump, and the heat pump. Surely much easier to maintain and repair, and safer as well.

When the price of photovoltaic solar panels come down, we can replace most of the roof with it, reducing peak time demand, and run the heating/cooling on National Grid at night.

I think insurance companies should give a reduction on premium for lower water damage risk on air duct systems, because they don't leak.

I do like cooking with Gas, so will still have it. That will make the Northsea gas last a lot longer.

slenderkitten

i recently moved from gas central heating and cooker to all electric, i would advice gas it takes ages for electric cooker to get up to heat and cool down again i couldnt tell you any price differences but for ease of use i prefer gas at least you can still cook if your electrcity goes down and vice versa if you get yourself an electric hob or something.

i just look at this in terms of WHAT IF. better to have TWO options rather than NONE in an emergency.

missile

When the gas runs out, you won't be able to afford electricity anyway :rotfl:

Antispam

Waste of time replying to this thread another newbie never come back since posting, why waste your time