Property with no Mains Gas - cheapest options

Shaun84

Hi

Me and my partner haver just purchased a mid terraced house in a small village with no mains gas. We are trying to work out which of the following 3 options would be the most cost effective:

1. Gas boiler running on Calor gas bottles in the back garden
2. Multi fuel stove with back boiler to heat the water and Calor gas bottles in the garden - more expensive to install
3. Electric boiler

We were initially going to go down the route of installing a gas boiler and running a few Calor gas bottles in the garden. We have since been advised against this, due to the cost and especially during peak winter we were told two bottles may only last two weeks which we cannot afford to sustain.

Is there anyone in the same situation as us who can offer advice on any of the above heating systems? Anyone in Rural areas with no mains gas who can advise?

Any help would be appreciated.

thanks

HateLPG

Whatever choice you make, I would advise against using bottled gas for heating - it will work out cripplingly expensive.

Depending on where you are, bottled gas could cost you anything up to £70 for a 47kg bottle. You can get it cheaper by shopping around, but that seems a pretty commonly quoted sort of top-end price at present.

The denisty of Propane (which is the particular flavour of LPG that the big orange bottles are filled with) is about 0.58kg/l (you will find different figures quoted if you look around - 0.5kg/l is often quoted, but 0.58kg/l is a fairly accurate value), so that means a 47kg bottle contains 81 litres of Propane, give or take.

From the above this gives a price for bottled LPG of anything up to about 84ppl

Now typical average annual usage for heating (for bulk LPG, which is the same animal, only delivered by tanker into large bulk tanks and far cheaper than bottled LPG) has been quoted elsewhere on these forums (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=40366130&postcount=606) by someone who works in the industry (and therefore should know these things) as 2,500litres, which at 84ppl (worst current case) works out at about £2,100 a year!

You should also note that LPG pricing has been particularly volatile over the past few years, and long-term, it is only likely to rise.

If you are considering LPG heating, bulk LPG should work out significantly cheaper than that (depending on supplier and contract - see the Bulk LPG Cheapest Supplier / Supply Route thread for chapter and verse), but as you're in a mid-terraced house, I suspect that installing and delivering to a bulk storage tank (LPG or oil) is unlikely to be an option.

And remember, if you are considering electric heating, the Feed In Tarriffs for Solar PV generation are currently very favourable although that could change (see http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/utilities/2010/10/spending-review-solar-feed-in-tariffs-safe-for-now)

HappyMJ

Shaun84 wrote: »

Hi

Me and my partner haver just purchased a mid terraced house in a small village with no mains gas. We are trying to work out which of the following 3 options would be the most cost effective:

1. Gas boiler running on Calor gas bottles in the back garden
2. Multi fuel stove with back boiler to heat the water and Calor gas bottles in the garden - more expensive to install
3. Electric boiler

We were initially going to go down the route of installing a gas boiler and running a few Calor gas bottles in the garden. We have since been advised against this, due to the cost and especially during peak winter we were told two bottles may only last two weeks which we cannot afford to sustain.

Is there anyone in the same situation as us who can offer advice on any of the above heating systems? Anyone in Rural areas with no mains gas who can advise?

Any help would be appreciated.

thanks

4. Storage heaters that are appropriately sized for each living room will be much cheaper. Use convector heaters in the bedrooms in the morning before the peak rate kicks in for some instant heat. Use electric blankets at night to keep the chill off the room. Any heat from downstairs will also leak into the bedrooms upstairs during the day keeping them from being freezing cold.

5. ASHP, Air source heat pumps are efficient users of electricity during the day. They pump heat from outside to inside running at about 1kw and will at least give you twice that heat in return and on a warm (5-10 degree outside temperature) give you up to 3.8kw equivalent heat.

Calor gas is expensive and is rising.

Electric boilers are pointless you may as well use convector/oil filled/bar heaters.

Pincher

Shaun84 wrote: »

2. Multi fuel stove with back boiler to heat the water

Mutlti-fuel stove, heat pump, thermal store.

http://www.plumbnation.co.uk/site/gledhill-torrent-heat-pump-open-vented-mains-pressure-thermal-store-cylinder/torrent-hp-brochure.pdf

See diagram on page 4 if you can't be bothered to read it all.

All depends on how cheap you can get the wood.

No LPG bottle or tank.

Abby1989

Hi, I am the partner mentioned above : )

No one has mentioned using a multi fuel stove with a back boiler. Are they not effective?

No a larger container is not really feasible, most other people in the village have the calor gas bottles, have they got a good deal we don't know about? Or is it likely they installed their systems when prices were lower?

I've lived in a house previously which had old storage heaters, are there now new ones which are easier to manage? I was always finding myself roasting or not hot enough, and I found them difficult if I just wanted an extra hour or two of heat, but I guess that's why you suggested the instant heaters.

Thank you for your help, it's just such a big subject and we don't know where to start!

Thank you xxx

Pincher

Abby1989 wrote: »

.
No one has mentioned using a multi fuel stove with a back boiler. Are they not effective?

How would you transfer the heat without a back boiler?
It is therefore redundant to say so.

The diagram also only says Multi-fuel stove, without mentioning the backboiler.

G_M

Your village neighbours have gas bottles because they've had them for years - when it was cheaper.

You have the advantage of starting from scratch and installing the best system. Think longer term and more imaginatively.

Yes, storage heaters these days are slimmer, better looking, more efficient and easier to control than the old 'brick in a metal case' ones of 20/30 years ago.

But consider solar hot water. Solar electricity. Air source heat pump. And insulate like mad.

Whatever you choose you've got an up-front cost. Some might be more expensive to start than others, but look 2 or 5 years ahead. And remember today's gas/oil prices are just a fraction of what they'll be in 5/10 years.