Effect of 'alternative' fuel system on my house value?

vassa

Hi all.

We currently live in a 2 bedroom property. We have a gas central heating system with an old boiler, which powers 6 radiators and the hot water. We also use gas for hob cooking.

Our house is really cold even with the heating on, and the thermostat is in the only place in the house that doesn't have a radiator, so the heating tends to stay on for ages even when the rads are at full heating capacity.

Anyway, we have a space where a fireplace used to be, and we also have pipework for where a 'back boiler' used to be.

We are 100% getting either a real fireplace or a wood burning stove put in.

Now, I have a few ideas on the matter:

1) We can take out the old boiler (which the gas engineer who serviced it advised should be replaced 'soon') completely, and keep the cylinder and use a boiler stove to heat both the front room, radiators and hot water with.

2) We can install our wood burner and update the boiler to a cheap newer model, remove the rads downstairs and use the wood burner to heat the front room and turn the boiler on when we need heating upstairs.

3) We can install a cheap new boiler, and install the boiler stove, giving us the option of using both/either appliance as and when we need it (ie, in the summer a boiler might be better to have for a quick blast of hot water).

My preference is to go for the complete removal of the boiler, because we only ever use hot water for washing dishes and we don't bathe, we only ever shower (electric power shower). Seems a bit silly for us to have a boiler purely to heat the water in winter. We never have the boiler on to heat radiators at all from March-September so it seems an unnecessary expense.

However, I understand that if we come to sell it people will be more than taken aback by the fact that there is no gas boiler like they'd be used to.

I'm not really fussed on whether the house is 'sellable' or not, because i'm planning on staying for now and burning my own fuel is 'greener' and cheaper than having gas (I have almost free fuel to burn).

What I am worried about, is that the added value from replacing a hole in the wall (as it is at present) with a nice feature stove will be offset by a possible reduction in value because of not having a boiler.

So, do the people that come to value the house value based on boilers being installed, or do they value based on the fact that there is a heating source?

Boilers can be supplied and installed for less than £1500 but I don't want to remove the piping etc completely if it's going to drop £2k+ off the value of my property in the eyes of a valuer.

If this makes sense to absolutely anyone (!!) then your advice is much appreciated.

Thanks.

Ectophile

My thought with option 1 is that you're not going to want to light the fire in the middle of summer just to heat the water. If you've got an immersion heater in the tank, then that's an alternative.

Using electricity to heat the water is expensive, but it may well be cheaper than installing and maintaining a new boiler.

Cardew

Be very careful if you connect up the pipes for an old back boiler and attempt to combine wood burner and gas boiler(option 3 as I understand it)

Unless you have something like a Dunsley neutralizer you have a potential 'bomb' on your hands.

macman

Taking out a working gas boiler, however old, is going to diminish the value and appeal of your property to potential buyers. Most buyers want gas CH as the cheapest option, and many won't consider a property without it, in an area where mains gas is available.

pauletruth

if you have mains gas go with that. and just fit a simple wood burner.

[Deleted User]

vassa wrote: »

Hi all.

We currently live in a 2 bedroom property. We have a gas central heating system with an old boiler, which powers 6 radiators and the hot water. We also use gas for hob cooking.

Our house is really cold even with the heating on, and the thermostat is in the only place in the house that doesn't have a radiator, so the heating tends to stay on for ages even when the rads are at full heating capacity.

Anyway, we have a space where a fireplace used to be, and we also have pipework for where a 'back boiler' used to be.

We are 100% getting either a real fireplace or a wood burning stove put in.

Now, I have a few ideas on the matter:

1) We can take out the old boiler (which the gas engineer who serviced it advised should be replaced 'soon') completely, and keep the cylinder and use a boiler stove to heat both the front room, radiators and hot water with.

2) We can install our wood burner and update the boiler to a cheap newer model, remove the rads downstairs and use the wood burner to heat the front room and turn the boiler on when we need heating upstairs.

3) We can install a cheap new boiler, and install the boiler stove, giving us the option of using both/either appliance as and when we need it (ie, in the summer a boiler might be better to have for a quick blast of hot water).

My preference is to go for the complete removal of the boiler, because we only ever use hot water for washing dishes and we don't bathe, we only ever shower (electric power shower). Seems a bit silly for us to have a boiler purely to heat the water in winter. We never have the boiler on to heat radiators at all from March-September so it seems an unnecessary expense.

However, I understand that if we come to sell it people will be more than taken aback by the fact that there is no gas boiler like they'd be used to.

I'm not really fussed on whether the house is 'sellable' or not, because i'm planning on staying for now and burning my own fuel is 'greener' and cheaper than having gas (I have almost free fuel to burn).

What I am worried about, is that the added value from replacing a hole in the wall (as it is at present) with a nice feature stove will be offset by a possible reduction in value because of not having a boiler.

So, do the people that come to value the house value based on boilers being installed, or do they value based on the fact that there is a heating source?

Boilers can be supplied and installed for less than £1500 but I don't want to remove the piping etc completely if it's going to drop £2k+ off the value of my property in the eyes of a valuer.

If this makes sense to absolutely anyone (!!) then your advice is much appreciated.

Thanks.

If the house is cold with full GCH it will be even colder with just a stove...

MonsterMonster

You answered your own question in your penultimate paragraph.

I'm puzzled by you not being "fussed" about the house being "sellable" but at the same time you seem concerned about the added value. If you can't sell a house it's worthless. As a potential buyer I would either be put off completely because of the hassle in installing a new boiler or reduce my offer to reflect it. Most people expect conventional heating where available.

Stick with gas as it is cheap compared to heating with electricity (even if just for hot water), it's controllable and it works when you are away.

We have two woodburners and love them dearly but they require a lot of hands on work to feed, clean and that's after you've chopped, split, stacked, seasoned and hauled wood back in to the house. We have oil and would love to replace it with a gas boiler!

If I were you I'd upgrade the gas boiler, keep all radiators and install a woodburner in the room purely to top up the heat in that space. Excess heat may circulate about the house if you leave doors open but the woodburner also causes draughts as they pull in air in to the room.

Connecting a woodburner to a wet system has it's limitations and must be designed properly for safe operation otherwise you could have an exploding heating circuit in the event of a power cut unless you're heating circuit is gravity fed or has a suitable override system fitted.

By the way an open fireplace is a complete waste of heat and money as very little heat gets out to the room and goes up the chimney. Looks pretty though!

vassa

macman wrote: »

Taking out a working gas boiler, however old, is going to diminish the value and appeal of your property to potential buyers. Most buyers want gas CH as the cheapest option, and many won't consider a property without it, in an area where mains gas is available.

Thanks macman, i've asked this in 3 different subforums on this board and out of maybe 30 replies you're the ONLY person to actually answer the question. Everyone else has given me a detailed opinion on my life instead of commenting on house value like i asked - see above for a bit of evidence of this.

I think i'm going to replace the naff old boiler and get something cheap put in so it's there alongside the wood burner, although i will need it moving to somewhere else as it currently takes up a whole wall in the kitchen (weird layout).

Cheers pal.

Stick with gas as it is cheap compared to heating with electricity (even if just for hot water), it's controllable and it works when you are away.

Why would i want to be heating an empty house? Big waste of energy.

We have two woodburners and love them dearly but they require a lot of hands on work to feed, clean and that's after you've chopped, split, stacked, seasoned and hauled wood back in to the house.

This is what life should be about though, not about working to pay for the 'conveniences' that actually we don't need. Bit of physical exercise, and you might just learn something while doing it. Much rather that than flick a boiler on and vegetate in front of the TV like a lot of people do. In short - i don't find that sort of stuff 'a lot of work', and it's certainly not hard work enough to consider not putting the burner in.

Connecting a woodburner to a wet system has it's limitations and must be designed properly for safe operation otherwise you could have an exploding heating circuit in the event of a power cut unless you're heating circuit is gravity fed or has a suitable override system fitted.

In all 3 threads i've asked this in, i've had this sort of comment. Why do people assume i wouldn't get it installed by a qualified HETAS engineer?

vassa

jeepjunkie wrote: »

If the house is cold with full GCH it will be even colder with just a stove...

So what's your opinion on house value?

[Deleted User]

vassa wrote: »

So what's your opinion on house value?

Hi,

House value can be very subjective and only a sale will show the true value at that point in time.

I would say that the majority of buyers will expect a full working GCH in a mains gas area and will offer accordingly. Country properties are a different kettle of fish.

Stoves are a great supplement to central heating especially if you get low cost/free wood. I have two and would not be without them. One is rarely used as in the dining room/kitchen and the other is regularly used in the lounge. They used in addidtion to full CH.

Briefly, if your house is cold the first stop would be to identify why... Causes could be insulation, windows, doors, chimneys, damp, drafts etc.

I'm not knocking your decision to install a stove as they are wonderful to have but to remove the CH... that seems counterproductive with a sting in the tale of a harder to sell property unless priced as such.

All the best!

SG27

Put the stove in but if you want to keep the value of the house stick in a new cheap boiler too. Even if you will rarely use it. I would never but a house without central heating and differently not heating powered solely by the stove.