Buying a house with no central heating

spenceeyftb

Hi everyone

Me and Mrs. Spenceey are off to look at a house tonight. On paper it looks fantastic, needs work but we are happy with that.

The main thing for us is that it's affordable our mortgage will be a around a 1/4 of our earnings. It's close to both our works so that we don't rely on cars to travel to work. Near parks and has a lovely garden.


Now on to the bad point. It doesn't have central heating. I'm not even sure if it has a gas supply yet.

What are my options?

Live with the E7 heating it currently has? Is this really as bad as people make out? Is there anyway to make these as efficient as gas c/h?

I'd like to have an open fire/log burner in the living room so we can deal without a radiator in there.

I did think of holding back 5k from the mortgage to have the C/H done but this would end up costing us around £100 more each month on the mortgage of the place.

Thanks for the tips ahead of replies.

Mr_Moo_2

It needs work and by the sound of it, one element of that work is to install central heating.

If you've got no mains gas supply then you're a bit limited - electricity or calor gas - with the dramatic cost increases for both gas and electricity over recent years I think there is less of a margin between the two, but not sure?

Think of potential resale, most buyers would favour a house with CH over one without. Maybe negotiate the price down to reflect the current lack?

Good luck with the viewing....

spenceeyftb

To be honest I'd go in with a lower offer anyway.

I know the road must have mains gas since it's just off a busy road but the house may not have a supply.



With regards to resale I want a house first and foremost. If we can make money on it that's great. If we don't ever move I know we'd be happy there. It's the money side of things that make this appeal to me in the current climate.

PlutoinCapricorn

Options?

Central heating makes me feel ill! I use pullovers - I have just bought myself a 'slanket' - and hot water bottles. I have a halogen heater, but only use it as a last resort.

Brighty

If gas is not available there's always oil for the CH. We have oil and it's not that much more expensive than mains gas would be, i'm sure it must be cheaper and less hassle than bottled gas.

Brighty

LoveChild

What's wrong with this one?

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-35584432.html

Just round the corner. A little more expensive, granted, but looks in much better condition (the one you indicate looks as though the owner has died), and with GCH already installed.

Other similar properties are available.

But if you want one to do up, then the one you indicated is better.

jcb208

Another option is air source heat pump but cant really coment on installation costs as I dont know

G_M

Either install central heating, or

live without it, or

buy a different house.

Truck over to the utilities forum to discuss heating options and alternatives.

llh189

I am just about to exchange on a very similar house to this without central heating!

I am not overly worried about the lack of it to be honest!

I spent 6 years living in a house with no CH and managed fine, my electric blanket was the very very best thing I owned! The house was 200 years old so was freezing, when I moved to my currented rented house, which had CH and to be honest I barely used it and not at all upstairs!

The new road that I am moving too has gas to it, and in time I shall put it in especially as I know it will add value but I am not worried about living their in the meantime!

embob74

We have just moved from a modern, centrally heated house to one with no gas available so storage heaters :-(
The downside I find is that storage heaters are not flexible - if it is a cold night and we haven't had the storage heaters on the night before then we're stuck with the cold. Although I believe newer storage heaters have a boost option.
The cost is quite high but as we don't have a gas bill it evens out.
We do have a wood burner in the living room and this heats a radiator in the hall and the immersion heater. Another cost with coal and kindling (we get free logs) and needs an hour or more to heat up but when it's blazing is luxurious :-)
I have dropped many hints about wanting an electric blanket for my birthday......

Fire_Fox

Electric is significantly more expensive than gas so electric space heating is more expensive than gas central heating. Your cheapest option is to insulate the hell out of the walls and roof, triple glazed windows, blackout linings on curtains, electric underblanket on your bed, electric overblanket on sofa (only costs as much as a lightbulb to run). If you are doing the place up consider oil heating, a woodburner, electric underfloor heating or air source heat pump.