no GCH in the house

G_M

Ignore he EPC. It is meaningless. The only buyers who take any notice are the ones who have yet to discover it is meaningless!

The questions to ask yourself are not about the EPC but "will it make my house warmer?" and "will it be cheaper to keep my house warm" and "will it make my house easier to sell in due course"?

(Yes, Probobly, Yes)

seraphina

Do you really need to put in GCH? You need to know what you're doing with storage heaters, but if you have an economy 7 electricity tarrif they can be a cheap way to heat a house. How long will it take you to get 4-5K back in cheaper heating costs if you switch to gas?

You'd be better off insulating your home as far as possible before such an expensive process as installing GCH. Also, it's a good excuse to negotiate something off the asking price...

seraphina

Also, it doesn't really matter how efficient your new gas boiler is if your walls are paper thin, you've got single glazing with gaps in the window frames and no loft insulation. So no, putting in GCH is not a magic solution to energy efficiency.

ramagates

thanks for all the posts. i will look the house again to find out about the floors and tariff about electric.

the forum is helpful, the answers are quick

dimbo61

A " G " rating is not good to start with and in a few years time you would not be able to rent it out!
If its got electric storage heaters its more than likely going to have old wiring and no insulation or little.
So you need to check if you have any loft insulation ( £50 to put in yourself) cavity wall insulation, modern double glazing for security and insulation, gas central heating combi boiler and new radiators plus a total rewire.
Has each one of the rooms got 3/4 double plug sockets + modern RCB fuse board
Might need replastering of whole house + damp proof course so get a full survey and quotes from plumber + electrican.

London_Town

I bought my house earlier this year without gas central heating. Although built in '93, it just had a few of those horrid storage heaters with huge bricks in. However, the gas had been taken to the outside of the house and all the other homes in my terrace had already had it fitted.

It is alot of expense and disturbance to have gas central heating fitted. However, the plus side is you get to choose your boiler position and where to have all your radiators. Also, although you're paying for it, your home will have a new and fully working system, rather than inheriting a 30 year old boiler and sludged up radiators, which you may get in some homes with a system already fitted.

In answer to your question ramagates, I would say yes, it is worth buying a house with no gas central heating, if it ticks two boxes for you.

Firstly, is the gas pipe brought to the house? From what you say yes it is, so you won't have the potentially massive expense of paying for a gas pipe to be dug in from the main supply. Therefore, you can have the system fitted before you move in or at anytime you choose in the future. Indeed, you may decide not to for the duration of your ownership. However, at least you could point out to future estate agents and viewers that the house can be easily kitted out with gas central heating as it has a ready supply point.

The second and most important box to tick is does the house make sense for you in every other way? By this I mean location, price, layout etc. If the answer is yes, then it sounds worth a punt.

Hammyman

pimento wrote: »

You do need to have it installed by someone Gas Safe though. Don't want to blow up the house!

I will just clarify this. You actually can install everything except the boiler. This will save you a ton of money and with the invention of plastic water pipes and push fit connectors, isn't actually that hard to do.

yoy

Hi,

Check here to get an idea on house prices in the area :

http://www.houseprices.co.uk/

As stated, you could buy a house with GCH. If it is too old, then you'd have the expense of replacing it. Plus all the sludge in the radiators and pipe work.


yoy

david29dpo

Hammyman wrote: »

I will just clarify this. You actually can install everything except the boiler. This will save you a ton of money and with the invention of plastic water pipes and push fit connectors, isn't actually that hard to do.

This is true. A "competent person" can also fit the boiler to the wall and connect the water pipes.

pinkteapot

seraphina wrote: »

Do you really need to put in GCH? You need to know what you're doing with storage heaters, but if you have an economy 7 electricity tarrif they can be a cheap way to heat a house.

Afraid I don't agree. We moved from a modern 2-bed flat with electric heating (no gas supply) to a 4-bed detached house with gas heating/hot water/hob and electric oven.

We paid £85 a month for electricity at the flat (average monthly spend over the year) and in the big house we pay.... £85 a month for gas and electricity.

The flat was on an Economy 7 tariff. I didn't used to believe that electric heating was that expensive until I started heating a huge house for the same price. :eek: