Lpg, oil, Electric?

CluelessNewbie

Myself and my husband are in the process of buying a 3 bed terrace, with a built in garage and no mains gas in the area. We are trying to work out the most economical way of heating our new home. The options are a LPG tank in the front garden (underground), dimplex quantum heating. I've done some reading about the electric heating and have looked briefly into Lpg but it seems to be a minefield! I'm unsure, and worried about the costs of each of these things monthly, rather than the installation costs, which we have money put by for. Thanks in advance

ilikecookies

How is the property currently heated? Does it currently have radiators, electric heaters or just fireplaces? I ask as if it doesn't have rads than it will add a lot to the install cost if you go down the oil/lpg route.

In terms of running costs oil will be the cheapest option per kilowatt hour, then LPG (approx 30% more per kilowatt hour than oil) and then an electric solution such as dimplex heating (a staggering 200% more per kilowatt hour than oil). Each fuel has it's pros and cons.

You can see indicative numbers on running costs here:

http://www.nottenergy.com/energy_cost_comparison

You should also explore whether any of the renewable options (eg. heat pump, biomass boiler, etc) are appropriate for your property too.

I'm afraid it's quite a tricky decision and definitely worth doing a fair bit of research. Good luck!

CluelessNewbie

It's currently not heated! There are no fireplaces, no storage heaters or any other heating for that matter, they have an electric fireplace and use electric heaters (halogen and panel). The plan is to move in and start a family, hence why we want something reliable and that won't break the bank!

Dr._Shoe

If you're happy mainataining a wood pile wood burners are by far the cheapest if you have time to go out and collect it.

My friend lives near an unmanaged forest, the owner of which allows him to take as much fallen timber he can carry. Apart from a few hours per month and keeping a small chainsaw in running order it costs him absolutely nothing to heat his home. He also gets offcuts from a local joinery.

lovesgshp

Look at a couple of air to air source heat pumps. They will not heat hot water, but may help you with the heating side of things.

Smiley_Dan

Dr._Shoe wrote: »

If you're happy mainataining a wood pile wood burners are by far the cheapest if you have time to go out and collect it.

The plan is to move in and start a family

Good luck with that

Smiley_Dan

Seriously, how much time do you have to do work on the house?

My personal view is that you should reduce the heat demand as much as possible before deciding on heating. That means you (a) use less energy and (b) have more choices (in low demand houses heat pumps become better, in really low demand/zero demand houses you can get away with electrical heating which has zero maintenance).

You do that by insulating and air tightening. The trouble with the former is it's a terrace, but there's still plenty to do. See http://www.greensuffolk.org/assets/Greenest-County/SGBN/Sustainable-Construction/refurbfinalpdf.pdf

captainhindsight_2

First insulate as much as possible, then establish the heat demand for the house.

With a blank canvas on a terrace I would go for ashp as you are going to have to buy new radiators etc any way and is a compact option

Silent_Dancer

First insulate as much as you can.

Then install an oil boiler. The price per kw of oil is currently less than mains gas and it is the cheapest form of off mains heating.

captainhindsight_2

Silent_Dancer wrote: »

First insulate as much as you can.

Then install an oil boiler. The price per kw of oil is currently less than mains gas and it is the cheapest form of off mains heating.

Maybe at the moment with oil being at an all time low, it is very shortsighted to choose heating based an a temporary blip of the upward trend of fossil fuels especially oil

Oil is a long way off being the cheapest form of off grid heating

Smiley_Dan

If you "insulate as much as you can" you don't need a flippin' oil boiler! That's like moving next door to work and commuting in a Ferrari.