LPG Central Heating....

vansboy

Hi All!

Not that we've got the house yet, but several are without direct gas supplies & never had oil before, wondered about the LPG option.

Shell have a good offer on, just now, it seems on installation & you don't buy the tank (pay £100/year rent for it though), so a cheaper start up cost.

The house we have been trying to buy would need the old oil system replacing anyway, so what do other Moneysavers reckon??

Thanks in advance!!

VB

caleyles

Hi there.

We install all types of central heating up here in the North of Scotland, the feedback we get from customers is that LPG is real expensive to run and some previous oil customers wish they had stayed with oil, against that the majority don't like having an oil boiler in the house and that is where they prefer the gas option, however there are oil boilers such as Grant and Boulter that actually fit outside the house and they look ok. Me personally I would have oil and maybe LPG for cooking using the big cylinders with change over valves

vansboy

Thanks for that Caleyles - judging by the response here, not too many people choose LPG!!

The house we are looking at actually has the existing old oil boilerin it's own small housing. The idea we had was for this area to become a utility room, so the boiler position could remain & not too offensive, if they do smell (oil),. Or are new ones not a problem that way?

VB

fitorbust

Avoid like the plague - we switched 2 years ago from LPG to oil and now pay a quarter of what we paid with LPG.
The oil system is a lot more efficient, and the price of oil doesn't vary as dramatically as LPG.
Good luck.
PS No smell at all - it's all stored outside and the system is airtight. Just watch the level indicator as a big thing in our village is to run out just when the weather gets cold.
We also buy oil together as we can get a better price for larger quantities so see what your new neighbours do!

caleyles

As a footnote to what the previous post said, there is an option of fitting an Atkinson tankmaster to your oil tank. It is a device that fits on your tank and sends a signal to a guage in your house which reads the oil level, a lot more modern and less likely to forget checking the tank guage, if you do go for oil it's worth getting quotes from several suppliers before filling as the price can vary in the cost per litre wshich can make a big difference when filling up:)

Sobraon

Sister in Law has LPG as they live out on the moors and her hubby is allergic to kerosene. LPG is expensive and you are tied to one supplier (I understand the filling fittings are different and you 'rent' the tank). We use oil (no mains gas) and have a big tank so can always haggle hard for the best oil prices. Oil price trends are at http://www.boilerjuice.com/priceHistory.php which we use as the starting point for negotiation.