Gas or Oil Heating? What would you choose and why?

whimsymoon

Hello World!!!

We live in a old (and cold) farmhouse that is very dated and still on oil. The rest of the street is on gas.

We would need to spend a bit to get on gas, new boiler, new connection etc... and I am all for it as we are going through oil very quickly, but my husband is not convinced that gas is the answer.

I understand about our house being not well insulated, having a old heating system and solid walls etc.. but surely, long term, gas is better and cheaper than oil and given the choice anyone would go to gas wouldn't they?

I need some objective answers please to help convince my husband (or maybe not?!).

I'm going to post this exact same thread on the LPG, Oil and Solid Fuels forum too.

Thank you for your help.

Premier_2

whimsymoon wrote: »

Hello World!!!

We live in a old (and cold) farmhouse that is very dated and still on oil. The rest of the street is on gas.

We would need to spend a bit to get on gas, new boiler, new connection etc... and I am all for it as we are going through oil very quickly, but my husband is not convinced that gas is the answer.

I understand about our house being not well insulated, having a old heating system and solid walls etc.. but surely, long term, gas is better and cheaper than oil and given the choice anyone would go to gas wouldn't they?

I need some objective answers please to help convince my husband (or maybe not?!).

I'm going to post this exact same thread on the LPG, Oil and Solid Fuels forum too.

Thank you for your help.

Well it depends on a number of factors, but in simple terms I would always choose mains gas over oil because:
a) kWh for kWh, gas is cheaper
b) There's no messing about ordering or having delivered fuel (or risk running out)
c) There's no ugly tank in the garden (or risk of having the valuable contents nicked)

Of course, the downside may well be the capital expenditure to have gas installed; that is something you need to evaluate. As you say the heating system is old anyway, it may well be nearing it's end of serviceable life anyway and need replacing soon.

How well the home is or isn't insulated is not important in this comparison - it still takes the same amount of heat whether you do so by gas or oil

rising_from_the_ashes

whimsymoon wrote: »

I understand about our house being not well insulated, having a old heating system and solid walls etc..

Unless you're going to replace the whole heating system & insulate as well, you will still be losing loads of heat.

The capital expenditure of having a gas connection made and a new boiler is pretty substantial - add on a new central heating system as well and you're talking serious money ...... that's a lot of oil!

Insulation can be added fairly cheaply so this would be the first place to start.

Yup, oil has its disadvantages (such as the lorry not being able to deliver during last years snow!) but the huge costs of having the gas installed would be a huge NO for me.

Another factor to consider is how long you think you'll be in the house - will you recoup the capital money expended (it's likely to take several years to even break even).

w50nky

I would agree with veiws of the above posts. I would just mention that with gas you do not have to pay upfront for your fuel as you do with oil if you shop around for your supplies. Spend your money first on insulation as this is going to reduce your heating bill from the outset and pay for itself fairly quickly. If your oil boiler dies then the outlay costs of gas may be a bit more favorable. I wish they would route gas into my village!

Kew2u

Cost of new installation is a major factor here. If you have the money spare to convert, then your main decision is one of reliability and convenience of gas or oil. If money isn't the issue, I would certainly go for gas.