advice on changing heating sysytem

crl66

hi all,

My home has an old heating system. Honeywell blow heating downstairs, due to an electrical fault this isnt working, and a boiler with a hot and cold water tanks for radiators upstairs. Only 3 out of the 5 radiators work and yesterday a pipe burst in the loft so i cant have the water on.
Im considering replacing the whole system with a combi boiler or leaving the upstairs,repairng it to working order and installing Rointe electric heaters downstairs. Im looking the cheapest way possible to ensure my home is fully heated. Any advice on which heating system would be most suitable,any grants i can i apply for or suggestions would be appreciated,
I live in a 3 bedroom end terrace house with a mortgage.Has full cavity wall insulation , loft insullation and double glazing. I am currently in the process of claiming benefits after recently leaving work due to ill health

thanks
chris

amtrakuk

My mum had a forced air heating system - cost a bomb to run. It went U/S so I took a few dimplex oil filled rads down and shes happily using those saying its cheaper to run than the old "gas guzzler"

Swipe

Don't buy a Rointe heater. Just get a generic panel heater instead for 10th of the price for exactly the same heat output.

amtrakuk

I agree with Swipe - Don't get pulled into thinking a swanky £300 radiator will save you money over a radiator of the same wattage you'd find on ebay - they wont, a 1kW second hand heater will perform just as good as a 1kW £300 one.

Smiley_Dan

If you are on benefits look at using one of the ECO schemes or the Green Deal to finance a new boiler... assuming the boiler is gas that would be cheapest long term.

captainhindsight_2

crl66 wrote: »

hi all,

My home has an old heating system. Honeywell blow heating downstairs, due to an electrical fault this isnt working, and a boiler with a hot and cold water tanks for radiators upstairs. Only 3 out of the 5 radiators work and yesterday a pipe burst in the loft so i cant have the water on.
Im considering replacing the whole system with a combi boiler or leaving the upstairs,repairng it to working order and installing Rointe electric heaters downstairs. Im looking the cheapest way possible to ensure my home is fully heated. Any advice on which heating system would be most suitable,any grants i can i apply for or suggestions would be appreciated,
I live in a 3 bedroom end terrace house with a mortgage.Has full cavity wall insulation , loft insullation and double glazing. I am currently in the process of claiming benefits after recently leaving work due to ill health

thanks
chris

Stick to Gas, electric heating should always been a last resort (apart from heart pumps).

Re. Grants for heating the HHCRO part of ECO can help pay for a boiler if you are on the right benefits.

If you are not there is a cashback scheme coming (it should have been announced last month but still waiting....)

And then obviously cash is the cheapest way to buy anything, conventional finance then as a last resort Green Deal Finance should help you pay for a new boiler at no upfront cost.

crl66

thanks for the replys guys.
Ive had a plumber round to repair the leak so im ok for now.Im looking into the grants from the ECO, thanks Captain. Yeah Gas seems to be the way to go guys , if im ineligble for a grant i have the means to install a new heating system but ii dont want to spend too much due to recent ill health and having to leave work.
Im currently looking at combi boilers and radiators, any suggestions of brands or places to buy them would be helpfull. I plan to (with some guidance from a plumber) do most of the installation myself so i have approx £1500 to spend on the equiptment.

captainhindsight_2

crl66 wrote: »

thanks for the replys guys.
Ive had a plumber round to repair the leak so im ok for now.Im looking into the grants from the ECO, thanks Captain. Yeah Gas seems to be the way to go guys , if im ineligble for a grant i have the means to install a new heating system but ii dont want to spend too much due to recent ill health and having to leave work.
Im currently looking at combi boilers and radiators, any suggestions of brands or places to buy them would be helpfull. I plan to (with some guidance from a plumber) do most of the installation myself so i have approx £1500 to spend on the equiptment.

Fist to find the plumber go on the gas safe register site, type in your postcode this will show you a list of plumbers in distance order. Just go down the list until there is someone you are happy with.

If you are on a budget the ferroli modena is a good boiler and has a 7 year waranty this is known as the landlord boiler because it is cheap and reliable. Or premium would be a Vaillant prob the best on the market also has 7 year waranty.

In regards to buying the materials, your plumber will probably get a better price than you could get as they are buying boilers and materials every day and get upto 40% discounts from what the general public can buy for.

If you do choose to buy the materials yourself best thing is to just google plumbing merchants and check out the pirces online, but don't buy the boiler and the pipework from the same place. The places that sell the boilers cheap sell everything else at a premium and vise versa.

Hope that helps.