New Gas Mains 32kwh?

Jib111

So after National Grid asking for £18000 to install gas mains I've found a utility infrastructure provider who will do it for 1/4 of that.

My only concern is the capacity of the mains which is 32kwh, is that enough to run a boiler with 9 rads? And also possibly a cooker, although we are happy to stick with electric should we need to.

Many thanks.

rogerblack

32kW is quite a lot of heat.

However.
Once you start getting quotes like that, it's reasonable to think of alternatives.

First thing - what is your annual electricity bill.
I assume you have storage heaters?

What would spending £7K (don't forget the cost of the heating system) on insulation for the property do to your bills?

HappyMJ

Jib111 wrote: »

So after National Grid asking for £18000 to install gas mains I've found a utility infrastructure provider who will do it for 1/4 of that.

My only concern is the capacity of the mains which is 32kwh, is that enough to run a boiler with 9 rads? And also possibly a cooker, although we are happy to stick with electric should we need to.

Many thanks.

32kW is plenty for a conventional (heat only) boiler, hot water would be via a cylinder, a gas fire and a gas cooker.

A combi boiler might be rated at 32kW and may not be enough. However, there are smaller combi's at 24kW and that could be installed instead.

footyguy

Jib111 wrote: »

So after National Grid asking for £18000 to install gas mains I've found a utility infrastructure provider who will do it for 1/4 of that.

My only concern is the capacity of the mains which is 32kwh, is that enough to run a boiler with 9 rads? And also possibly a cooker, although we are happy to stick with electric should we need to.

Many thanks.

What size boiler are you thinking of getting?
We have a 40,000btu one which is about 12kW and that runs 10 rads.

I suspect you won't be getting one over 80,000btu (24kw)

Check the rating of any cooker to ensure you have sufficient supply to run both.

I guess you are hoping to do things on the cheap using an Independent Gas Transporter rather than National Grid?
If so, be aware that not all suppliers/tariffs are made available to those supplied via an IGT and suppliers may charge extra for an IGT (although of the big 6, only nPower now charge extra and its only £10 or something like that)

Jib111

rogerblack wrote: »

32kW is quite a lot of heat.

However.
Once you start getting quotes like that, it's reasonable to think of alternatives.

First thing - what is your annual electricity bill.
I assume you have storage heaters?

What would spending £7K (don't forget the cost of the heating system) on insulation for the property do to your bills?

At the moment we have coal fired central heating and it is just not practical, the upstairs rads do heat up but the downstairs rads rely on an electric pump. The boiler is also topping 20 years old and would need replacing so we would rather spend the money and have a nice new convenient system.

HappyMJ wrote: »

32kW is plenty for a conventional (heat only) boiler, hot water would be via a cylinder, a gas fire and a gas cooker.

A combi boiler might be rated at 32kW and may not be enough. However, there are smaller combi's at 24kW and that could be installed instead.

So we would be looking at an heat only boiler and not one that can do both rads and hot water?

Also does anyone know if the mains is only going to be 32kwh due to the large distance from the street? Would it not be possible to ask for a 64kwh service pipe instead?

HappyMJ

Jib111 wrote: »

At the moment we have coal fired central heating and it is just not practical, the upstairs rads do heat up but the downstairs rads rely on an electric pump. The boiler is also topping 20 years old and would need replacing so we would rather spend the money and have a nice new convenient system.



So we would be looking at an heat only boiler and not one that can do both rads and hot water?

Also does anyone know if the mains is only going to be 32kwh due to the large distance from the street? Would it not be possible to ask for a 64kwh service pipe instead?

It'll still do hot water but via a hot water cylinder rather than having an unlimited supply of it on demand. If you run a bath you have to wait for the boiler to reheat the cylinder. My boiler will do that in less than half an hour and it's usually about the same time that it takes to have a bath.

gas4you

HappyMJ wrote: »

32kW is plenty for a conventional (heat only) boiler, hot water would be via a cylinder, a gas fire and a gas cooker.

A combi boiler might be rated at 32kW and may not be enough. However, there are smaller combi's at 24kW and that could be installed instead.

Its the Kw input of the gas appliance that counts, not the output.

A standard domestic gas meter will handle a lot more than 32Kw, so what are they fitting??

Jib111

gas4you wrote: »

Its the Kw input of the gas appliance that counts, not the output.

A standard domestic gas meter will handle a lot more than 32Kw, so what are they fitting??

"Supply Point Detail Maximum Capacity: 32 kw/h"

That is from my quote.

grahamc2003

I'd google 'rhi' before paying a few grand to go on gas.

If you're not on gas, you can get grants which are expected to cover costs of an approved heating system, which could be a stove, pellet/biomass boiler or heatpump etc.

southcoastrgi

G4Y the new 20mm mains supply pipes they seem to be fitting everywhere (because they can use the existing service pipe to push the new one through) will only supply 32kw

Andy_WSM

Jib111 wrote: »

My only concern is the capacity of the mains which is 32kwh, is that enough to run a boiler with 9 rads? And also possibly a cooker, although we are happy to stick with electric should we need to.

Many thanks.

Almost definitely yes - assuming you have a reasonable level of insulation.

Next door just had a new 18Kw boiler fitted in a 2 bed detached place -8 rads including the conservatory. It is more than enough. With modern condensing boilers you need them rated lower to get the best efficiency from them. A tank of water is the way to go IMO, rather than a Combi anyway. You don't wait ages for water to heat in the tank nowadays - that was a thing of yesteryear!