Ditching gas boiler and switching to electric heating?

Sportacus

Given that gas is a diminishing resource, but electricty can be generated by different methods (including burning gas of course) I'm wondering if gas heating will one day become more expensive than electric heating. Also, I hear a lot of horror stories about the reliability of modern boilers, and the need to replace them every 10 years.

I'm wondering if when my boiler finally dies, whether to replace it or just go electric (and possibly get a wood burning stove in the living room, and solar water heating).

Assuming a boiler replacement costs £1500 which you have to do every 10 years, and you have an annual maintenance/safety check bill of £100, then I reckon gas needs to be £250 a year cheaper than electricty for heating (although this assumes that electric heaters require no maintenance).

Has anyone else thought about this or done it - or gone the other way?

good_advice

Hiya, something will have to be done as some people are in dept now, struggling with bills. Cannot afford a new boiler.

Wood burning stoves are becoming more popular and sourcing free wood if possible.
We have a small coal fire that we burn coal and wood on. It helps cut down on CH. Would love a back boiler.

The solar for water is good as long as the sun shines. Not so good in the dull winter months.

macman

If we run out of gas, the where do you think the electricity is going to come from a few years hence anyway? We are going to be more reliant on gas-fired power stations in the absence of any coherent nuclear policy. And renewables will not fill the gap, however many wind turbines we build.
Heating by standard rate electricity will cost you about 350% more than gas, so you'd be daft to replace a gas boiler with an electric one. Your existing boiler may run on for some years yet.

Sportacus

Thanks, will investigate wood burning stoves and backboilers further. Would love to be able to kiss goodbye the british gas.

macman, you mention 350% for standard rate, is there a % for using economy 7 and night storage heaters?

macman

It will depend purely on your proportion of cheap rate to peak rate usage. But even cheap rate E7 is still more per kWh than gas.
Not to mention that E7 does not suit all lifestyles-e.g. if the house is largely unoccupied in the day.
And finally, ripping out gas CH and DHW will seriously reduce the resale value of your property.
Why can you not leave BG and retain your gas boiler?

Sportacus

Just using BG as an example to be honest, I'm currently with EBICO who have no standing charge and are supposed to be non-profit making (they're really no cheaper though). My parents have had a nightmare with British Gas though since replacing their old 70s boiler with a condenser - the old one never failed - the new one seems to be constantly requiring visits from gas engineers. I'm sure they would have saved money these last couple of years with just electric heating.

macman

Or to have fitted a decent boiler from an local independent GSR RGI. BG typically charge 40% more for a install.
But if their boiler is just two years old then it should still be under warranty?

Andy_WSM

There is a lot to be said for electric heating in countries where electricity prices are more favorable, houses are better insulated AND their national grid infrastructure is geared up for it. Ours isn't any of the above and quite simply if everyone switched to electric heating overnight we'd be in a whole load of trouble (overloaded grid, brownouts / blackouts.

Electric heating is generally more reliable, can be "zoned" easier (only heat the rooms that need heating at different times of day) and is silent and clean at the point of use. That's not to say it's clean generally as the emissions are made at the power station with subsequent losses along the route of the grid to the point of use.

yangptangkipperbang

Andy_WSM wrote: »

There is a lot to be said for electric heating in countries where electricity prices are more favorable, houses are better insulated AND their national grid infrastructure is geared up for it.

Norway is a good example of this. All electricity is hydro electric, it is cheap (by Norwegian standards anyway), plentiful and reliable. Despite the huge amount of gas that Norway has in the North Sea there is NO domestic gas anywhere in the country - they sell it all !
BUT, I believe that it is also a requirement that houses have two types of heating available.

I took this photograph in Bergen a couple of years ago - the house appears to have a 3 phase power supply and a huge log pile ! The one next door also has a good supply of fire wood.