Will I save money disconnecting from gas and just using electric

Andy_WSM

happenstance wrote: »

think i will spend my 3k to install an efficient wood burner, main concern is that I will be planning to move in 5 years and dont want no working boiler to make it harder to sell.

That crossed my mind too - although I have no intentions of moving anyway.

If it came to a buyer being put off due to no Gas heating it's got to be worth saying "I'll meet you half way and knock £1500 off the price" - Just make sure you price it on the right side in the first place

happenstance

Andy_WSM wrote: »

That crossed my mind too - although I have no intentions of moving anyway.

If it came to a buyer being put off due to no Gas heating it's got to be worth saying "I'll meet you half way and knock £1500 off the price" - Just make sure you price it on the right side in the first place

Thats a good plan, I'm kind of hoping the log burner will offset the old boiler.

A fire is something nice to sit around, I dont particularly like central heating and my body doesn't seam to like it.

HappyMJ

happenstance wrote: »

Thats a good plan, I'm kind of hoping the log burner will offset the old boiler.

A fire is something nice to sit around, I dont particularly like central heating and my body doesn't seam to like it.

Some people just aren't interested in log burners at all so it probably won't add any more value to your house than the cost of buying it. My parents installed one in the house we had then several years after we sold the house they removed it. Their explanation is the fuel was too expensive for it and the hassle storing it and loading up the stove was too great. When we had it we got free wood and seasoned it ourselves...it took about 2 hours every weekend collecting more and chopping up a bit. We didn't mind doing it as it was also a way of getting out of the house and doing something.

If your boiler works try and keep it working by whatever means you can...at least you can say it has gas central heating. Any buyer seeing a boiler older than 10 years will deduct the cost of a new boiler from the value anyway so you could just add on £5,000 to your advertised purchase price expecting to be knocked down £5,000.

happenstance

HappyMJ wrote: »

Some people just aren't interested in log burners at all so it probably won't add any more value to your house than the cost of buying it. My parents installed one in the house we had then several years after we sold the house they removed it. Their explanation is the fuel was too expensive for it and the hassle storing it and loading up the stove was too great. When we had it we got free wood and seasoned it ourselves...it took about 2 hours every weekend collecting more and chopping up a bit. We didn't mind doing it as it was also a way of getting out of the house and doing something.

If your boiler works try and keep it working by whatever means you can...at least you can say it has gas central heating. Any buyer seeing a boiler older than 10 years will deduct the cost of a new boiler from the value anyway so you could just add on £5,000 to your advertised purchase price expecting to be knocked down £5,000.

Yep I can see that some people are not into wood burners at all, I think 3k on a boiler would probably be more recoverable than 3k on a wood burner. Its a tough one.

When you collected wood was this from your own land? Ive collected a few pieces for next year but this is just going out on walks after windy days on public land / roads and i gather it is best to collect it in the summer.

lstar337

happenstance wrote: »

not to mention gas comes from god knows where and at least my leckie tariff is a green one mostly from a wind farm in cornwall.

Unless you are off grid, and run cables directly to that windfarm, then your power can come from anywhere.

I doubt a Watt from that Cornish windfarm powers anything in your house, most likely it is all used by people in close proximity.

All you do is pay a premium to support the green generation methods.

happenstance

lstar337 wrote: »

Unless you are off grid, and run cables directly to that windfarm, then your power can come from anywhere.

I doubt a Watt from that Cornish windfarm powers anything in your house, most likely it is all used by people in close proximity.

All you do is pay a premium to support the green generation methods.

Yes I see your point of view, I know my electricity does not come directly from the lovely Cornish wind farm, but over the course of the year they do put the amount I use in units back into the grid. Maybe I'm being fooled, but when I'm firmly against nuclear power I would rather pay 5% more in the hope it does something. At least my money is going to a small British company and not a large French multinational.

The_Boss

Andy_WSM wrote: »

In what way?

I think two things really - inconsistent temperature and mould. Going from a warm/hot room into a cold room (e.g. in our case the kitchen, bathroom, spare room or toilet) is living in two extremes. Also had mould appearing in the spare room and kitchen as limiting heating use means that you cannot really have windows open during the depths of winter or rooms will be even colder. No issues at the moment with current weather, but once it gets really cold regularly they had to stay shut. And warm air can hold more moisture than cold air so damp/mould becomes less of an issue.

We're taking steps to avoid it this winter (namely switched tariff (were on a ridiculous one til now), going to heat the flat consistently throughout rather than just two rooms, using a fan/fan heater to help circulate air in certain rooms and a dehumidifier as a booster) but the last two winters are the illest I've ever been and it can only be attributed to living in a place without central heating when I've always been used to it.

lstar337

happenstance wrote: »

Yes I see your point of view, I know my electricity does not come directly from the lovely Cornish wind farm, but over the course of the year they do put the amount I use in units back into the grid. Maybe I'm being fooled, but when I'm firmly against nuclear power I would rather pay 5% more in the hope it does something. At least my money is going to a small British company and not a large French multinational.

So long as you know how the system works, then you're not being fooled. :)

Some people actually believe they are only getting their power from renewables though, they are the ones being fooled.

HappyMJ

happenstance wrote: »

Yep I can see that some people are not into wood burners at all, I think 3k on a boiler would probably be more recoverable than 3k on a wood burner. Its a tough one.

When you collected wood was this from your own land? Ive collected a few pieces for next year but this is just going out on walks after windy days on public land / roads and i gather it is best to collect it in the summer.

We collected it from what I think was actually privately owned land. A lot was collected based on what you hear. If you hear of someone cutting a tree down we went round with a chainsaw and a trailer and help take it all away for them...keeping it for firewood. They'd be happy they got rid of it for free and we were happy we got it for free.

Andy_WSM

The_Boss wrote: »

I think two things really - inconsistent temperature and mould. Going from a warm/hot room into a cold room (e.g. in our case the kitchen, bathroom, spare room or toilet) is living in two extremes. Also had mould appearing in the spare room and kitchen as limiting heating use means that you cannot really have windows open during the depths of winter or rooms will be even colder. No issues at the moment with current weather, but once it gets really cold regularly they had to stay shut. And warm air can hold more moisture than cold air so damp/mould becomes less of an issue.

We're taking steps to avoid it this winter (namely switched tariff (were on a ridiculous one til now), going to heat the flat consistently throughout rather than just two rooms, using a fan/fan heater to help circulate air in certain rooms and a dehumidifier as a booster) but the last two winters are the illest I've ever been and it can only be attributed to living in a place without central heating when I've always been used to it.

Yes, I can imagine temperature extremes could be a problem and would certainly encourage mould growth. The only unheated area I will have is the conservatory where the cats get fed - the rest of the time they are in the house with me, so I'm not going to spend vast sums of money keeping it warm this year.

I'm also one for leaving heat "low" rather than off, so the place will never get the chance to gt really cold.