Cheaper heating on new 5 bed house

laughsatcats

Maybe moving from 30 year old 5 bed house to 8 year old three story 5 bed house in the hope of saving on heating and maintenance. The new build has a kitchen diner plus lounge on ground floor so not huge and a pressurised heating system. It says on EPC 81 B rating and potential the same. My old house is D rating ish and costs £150 a month. Can I expect to make decent savings here? Not sure about insulation on the 8 year old house. Will it already have cavity wall insulation? The two attic rooms are in the roof so hopefully already insulated. Just hope I am not going to be tricked into thinking it will be more efficient by so called experts only to find it is only a few pounds saving!

macman

If you are really moving just to save money on fuel, of course you'll never get your money back, whatever the savings. The EA's fee and the stamp duty alone would take care of several year's bills.
A modern property will have cavity wall insulation and double glazing, so more energy-efficient in principle
What do you mean by 'pressurised heating system?' Do you mean simply a combi, or a mains pressure hot water system such as a Megaflow? That won't in itself save you any fuel.

matelodave

Theoretically you might save some money but it all depends on how you use your heating, hot water and other energy consuming devices.

An eight year old house should have better insulation than a 30 year old one, the heating system might be a bit more efficient and the boiler is possibly more efficient as it might be newer but if you don't control it all properly then you could end up paying the same or even more, especially if you've got more bathrooms, keep them warmer and use a lot more hot water. It should also be better draught proofed and the double glazing should be up to the latest specifications.

As said above, a pressurised hot water system shouldn't be any cheaper or more expensive to run than a non-pressurised system. However it's easy to get through a lot more hot water with a pressurised system especially if you or the rest of the family stand in the shower for extended periods.
Flow reducers on the hot taps and shower heads can save a fair amount as can having shorter showers or shallower baths. A 10 minute shower at 15 litres a minute = 150 litres (a whole tank full) whereas 5 minutes at 7lpm = 35 litres saving lots of valuable heated water not to mention valuable water (if you are on a meter).