Replacing Gas Boiler with Electric?

darkwarrior

Hello, our boiler recently failed, the pilot light won't stay lit and so we have no hot water except from the shower.

As I understand it, it iwll cost a lot to get it fixed, with Homeserve quoting £180. As it is, I was considering it may be worth paying a little extra and just flat out replacing it since I've seen some for £380 (here) and £470 (here) with just a quick google and I'm guessing you can find them cheaper still elsewhere.

Problem is I don't know anything about this stuff so those boilers might be crap. I mean there must be a reason they are charging nearly 3 grand for some (here).

So are Electric boilers superior to Gas? And if so is it worth it financially to switch?

Thanks for reading.

Cardew

The problem with electric boilers is they cost so much more to run - two or three times as much as gas. Closer to three times when compared to a modern high efficiency boiler.

darkwarrior

Oh really? I thought with all the rising costs Gas was worse off.

Perhaps the question should just be "Should I just replace the gas boiler outright with a new gas boiler than get it repaired"

antrobus

darkwarrior wrote: »

Oh really? I thought with all the rising costs Gas was worse off.

Nope. Electricity is about 12p a kw/hour, gas is about 3.5p a kw/hour, so electricity is 3.5 times the price of gas. Which is no surprise really as a lot of the electricty we use is generated by burning gas.

darkwarrior wrote: »

Perhaps the question should just be "Should I just replace the gas boiler outright with a new gas boiler than get it repaired"

Very likely. I suspect the answer might depend on what kind of gas boiler you have, how old it is etc. Bear in mind that it's not so much a question of how much a boiler costs, but one of how much it costs a heating engineer to supply and fit one.

Pincher

darkwarrior wrote: »

Hello, our boiler recently failed, the pilot light won't stay lit and so we have no hot water except from the shower.

Temperature probe or gas valve, most likely.
Unless the part is hard to get, just get them replaced, by a Gas Safe guy.

If it's got a pilot light, it's old. You are going to have to replace it sooner or later, so brush up on your knowledge.

I went on a basic auto-maintenance course years ago, adult education evening class. There should be something similar for plumbing. In fact, are there any Potterton, Worcester Bosch, Glow worm members of staff out there?

Promotion in adult education classes
______________________________

Approach local adult education or even secondary schools.
Send volunteer staff out to provide free introduction to plumbing classes. Staff gets extra holiday, brownie points towards promotion, etc. Management trainees get practice at doing presentations.

You get goodwill, brand exposure, and even potential recruitment opportunities. Write it off as marketing expense for tax purposes.

gas4you

Don't do it!