Coal to Gas or any other suggestions

tubateacher

Hi,
I live in a small 2 bedroom cottage. All heating, hot water and cooking is powered by a coal Rayburn. We also have two small children and are considering the switch to gas. We currently pay £140 for 1/2 a tonne of coal which lasts just over a month in the coldest of months. I know there is a gas pipe that runs down our lane and is connected to my next door neighbours but I have no idea how much it would cost to have gas installed (pipe work, boiler etc, or how to go about it).

Is there anyone that could offer some advice, figures or costs in this matter or anyone who has had this done before.
We intend to live in the house for the foreseeable future and as I am aware that gas is probably going to cost more than coal, in the long run it would eliminate the need to keep a fire going, getting coal (which is awkward for my partner when I am not home), the smoke the fire creates and the constant mess that having a coal fire produces....I would quite happily pay extra for all this to go away!!

Any advice, experiences (bad or good) or even alternative suggestions would be gratefully appreciated....

spinningsheep

I am not sure about the costs of the work to get the supply connected but you are looking in the region of £2000 upwards for a fully installed central heating system with a condensing combi boiler, pipework and radiators, obviously this cost will increase depending on the size of the installation. Presuming your Rayburn in in good order and not on the verge of giving out beyond all economic repair, based on your current consumption for coal of £140 a month for say 5 months of the year max, and an optimistic saving of say £40 per month on the cost of fuel if you are very frugal with your heating, cooking and hot water, you would still take over 5 years to recoup the outlay of the conversion. Bear in mind you can also look into changing to wood if you live somewhere that free wood is available, this would reduce your costs a little. There is more work involved with a solid fuel appliance, but if you keep the fire topped up with a good smokeless fuel, refueling intervals will be longer and virtually no smoke is produced, and you can easily keep the fire in whilst removing ashed if you get a metal "tippy" can. I would LOVE to get rid of rip of gas and go fully solid fuel but my house is rented and so I am stuck with gas central heating and a coal fire in the living room.

mackemdave

You should investigate Air Source or Ground Source Heat Pumps....Google them and read up about them.....Probably more expensive to install but should be cheaper in the long term