Switching from electric to a gas boiler and heating

Mentox

I have a 2 bedroom flat on the ground floor that has been build in 1991.

The house had 3 storage heaters (2 for the living room and 1 for the hallway) and two small heaters for each bedroom. We replaced those with simple Dimplex heaters as the old heaters looked awful and the storage heaters made it a sauna in the morning. The boiler is a simple tank with an element on the bottom and not replaced/looked after since the build.

On average we use 350Kwh (£46) a month. Last December we used 580Kwh (£73). Our appliances use around 25 pounds on average per month. So roughly 21 pounds a month goes to heating.

British Gas says I will save money by switching to gas for the boiler and heaters. But I am not so sure.

The investment is around 5400 pounds. Gas costs 4 per unit and electricity 12 per unit. So it will save 8 pence per unit (65% saving). Looking at the fact I spend 21 pounds a month on heating I will save 14 pounds a month or 168 pounds per year.

For my investment to get even it will take 5400/168=32 years.

Do I make a big mistake or is it simply not worth it? :think:

Thanks to everybody taking the time to read the whole story and replying

penrhyn

Modern gas boilers do not have the life expenctancy of older boiler, so you would need to factor in replacing it after say 5-10 years. In addition gas systems need an annual maintenance check.
You would probbly do better looking at modern storage heaters from say Dimplex or Creda.

ivy___

I have the same problem - 2 bed house with old storage heaters. The problem is - iam the new owner, so I dont know how much it would cost for me to keep it heated. Whole house is about 40 m2 ad has 3 storage heaters. The gas is connected to the property. Is it worth changing it to gas central heating? What would be the cheapest option for this situation? thanks for the reply

HappyMJ

ivy___ wrote: »

I have the same problem - 2 bed house with old storage heaters. The problem is - iam the new owner, so I dont know how much it would cost for me to keep it heated. Whole house is about 40 m2 ad has 3 storage heaters. The gas is connected to the property. Is it worth changing it to gas central heating? What would be the cheapest option for this situation? thanks for the reply

Cheapest in running costs will be gas but considering total cost of ownership in a small property it isn't really that much difference between storage heating with an immersion heater for hot water and gas central heating.

wizzards

Mentox wrote: »

I have a 2 bedroom flat on the ground floor that has been build in 1991.

The house had 3 storage heaters (2 for the living room and 1 for the hallway) and two small heaters for each bedroom. We replaced those with simple Dimplex heaters as the old heaters looked awful and the storage heaters made it a sauna in the morning. The boiler is a simple tank with an element on the bottom and not replaced/looked after since the build.

On average we use 350Kwh (£46) a month. Last December we used 580Kwh (£73). Our appliances use around 25 pounds on average per month. So roughly 21 pounds a month goes to heating.

British Gas says I will save money by switching to gas for the boiler and heaters. But I am not so sure.

The investment is around 5400 pounds. Gas costs 4 per unit and electricity 12 per unit. So it will save 8 pence per unit (65% saving). Looking at the fact I spend 21 pounds a month on heating I will save 14 pounds a month or 168 pounds per year.

For my investment to get even it will take 5400/168=32 years.

Do I make a big mistake or is it simply not worth it? :think:

Thanks to everybody taking the time to read the whole story and replying

This sounds quite a lot. I assume the £5400 is for the new heating system from British Gas ? I would suggest to get some quotes from other heating suppliers ideally recommended by someone who's had an install from the same firm and had a good experience on cost and service. In terms of systems Worcester Bosch is one of the best boilers you could get (and often comes with a 5 year warranty) but there are other cheaper types. Modern energy efficient boilers need regular maintenance as well.

southcoastrgi

as above get some more quotes £5400 is a crazy price