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Effect of 'alternative fuel' system on value of my property?
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.
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.
0
Comments
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You could always move the thermostat!
What is wasteful about having central heating that is not used March through September? Is that not entirely normal??
If you genuinely only use the boiler for dishes then just use an electric kettle (or gas one) or buy a dish washer.
Just throw in a wood-burner and leave the boiler and central heating but don't use them if you don't want.0 -
agree leave the boiler as it is and move the stat.
forget about the open fire and buy a wood burner.0 -
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).
Burning wood is greener than gas? Complete balderdash. Very nice for you, but only nice when it's only you. The fuel may be renewable but the pollution and excess deaths it would cause (if everyone reverted to it) is ridiculous. Not saying you shouldn't be selfish (I would if I had the opportunity) but don't delude yourself it is green.0 -
Burning wood is greener than gas? Complete balderdash. Very nice for you, but only nice when it's only you. The fuel may be renewable but the pollution and excess deaths it would cause (if everyone reverted to it) is ridiculous. Not saying you shouldn't be selfish (I would if I had the opportunity) but don't delude yourself it is green.0
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You could always move the thermostat!
What is wasteful about having central heating that is not used March through September? Is that not entirely normal??
If you genuinely only use the boiler for dishes then just use an electric kettle (or gas one) or buy a dish washer.
Just throw in a wood-burner and leave the boiler and central heating but don't use them if you don't want.
Any advice on the part that i actually wanted your input on?0 -
You should inform the Biomass Energy Centre and others that their publications are wrong then.
How much CO2 does burning wood save?
Burning wood releases about 0.055 kg of CO2 per kWH compared to 0.3 for coal, 0.25 for oil and 0.19 for natural gas that is a saving of at between 71% and 82%.
Is this 'balderdash'? If so i'll write them an email explaining why and ask them to change their 'facts'.0 -
http://www.familiesforcleanair.org/wood-burning-vs-natural-gas-no-contest/
Any way you slice it, it’s clear that gas burns much more cleanly than wood, leading to less particulate pollution.0 -
Purchase and installation of wood burning stove to building regs standard can come to a significant sum. Have recently looked into this for ourselves. Do you have a cheap source of wood? We decided against stove in favour of new boiler which is 15 per cent more efficient than existing. Will also be topping up loft insulation ourselves.Teamwork means.......never having to take all the blame yourself0
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Oops see you do have source of cheap wood. A stove installation that did not meet building regulations would invalidate house insurance and could put off potential buyers if you did put house on market.Teamwork means.......never having to take all the blame yourself0
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Burning cleaner has got nothing to do with it. The entire system of using gas, and the way the supplies are obtained and distributed add to the OVERALL carbon output of using gas. Burning wood might smoke more, but the entire system of burning gas is much much more anti-environment than burning wood is. It's been proven, case closed.Oops see you do have source of cheap wood. A stove installation that did not meet building regulations would invalidate house insurance and could put off potential buyers if you did put house on market.0
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