Grants for Storage Heating to Gas Central Heating

fooby1

I currently claim income support and get a disability premium, which makes me eligible for boiler upgrades etc. What I'd like to know is how these apply when your home currently has storage heaters installed?

I'm fairly sure that full gas heating installations aren't granted anymore in England, but boiler grants are and my landlord has agreed to pay for the rest of the system to be installed if we can get a grant for the boiler. Is this something they can help with or is it purely for properties with an old inefficient boiler?

The storage heating is costing a fortune only to be freezing all afternoon and evening. Old solid wall cottage.

Thank you!

lstar337

fooby1 wrote: »

The storage heating is costing a fortune only to be freezing all afternoon and evening. Old solid wall cottage.

Gas central heating and night storage on E7 are very comparable in running costs, so I doubt you will save any money.

If your NSH is freezing in the evening then your heaters may not be large enough, or you are not using them correctly.

The real problem appears to be a lack of sensible insulation. I would be looking at that problem before thinking about a GCH install.

Doesn't matter if you heat by NSH or GCH if all the heat is flooding straight out of the building.

fooby1

They aren't very comparable when we have to blast a gas fire all evening because they're only luke warm. They're pretty new and definitely adequate size for the rooms.

I'm starting to think this could be the issue as well, we've started using the gas fire in the living room, and even when the house is nice and cosy after an hour or so, it's cold again in the same time frame. The kitchen and bathroom are both brick extensions which are by far the coldest parts of the house, even thought we have double glazing throughout (still a wooden front door). Rest of the house is pre 1930's solid stone walled.

The issue seems to be getting any help with solid wall insulation. I've rang up 4 different initiatives so far and none of them do anything but loft and cavity wall. We have loft insulation, but I don't think it's up to scratch so hopefully we can at least get help with that, but I really don't think it'll help much without the walls being done also.

The landlord is willing to help with the cost, but is very unwilling to front the whole cost until next summer, which isn't much use.

lstar337

fooby1 wrote: »

They aren't very comparable when we have to blast a gas fire all evening because they're only luke warm. They're pretty new and definitely adequate size for the rooms.

Do you have a model number for them?

Are you sure you are using them correctly? They are not hard to use, but most people just assume they are like a normal direct heater.

fooby1 wrote: »

I'm starting to think this could be the issue as well, we've started using the gas fire in the living room, and even when the house is nice and cosy after an hour or so, it's cold again in the same time frame. The kitchen and bathroom are both brick extensions which are by far the coldest parts of the house, even thought we have double glazing throughout (still a wooden front door). Rest of the house is pre 1930's solid stone walled.

Yes, insulation is most likely your problem then.

fooby1 wrote: »

The landlord is willing to help with the cost, but is very unwilling to front the whole cost until next summer, which isn't much use.

You are lucky there then. Most landlords don't want to know.

When I was in a similar situation, I moved!

HappyMJ

fooby1 wrote: »

They aren't very comparable when we have to blast a gas fire all evening because they're only luke warm. They're pretty new and definitely adequate size for the rooms.

I'm starting to think this could be the issue as well, we've started using the gas fire in the living room, and even when the house is nice and cosy after an hour or so, it's cold again in the same time frame. The kitchen and bathroom are both brick extensions which are by far the coldest parts of the house, even thought we have double glazing throughout (still a wooden front door). Rest of the house is pre 1930's solid stone walled.

The issue seems to be getting any help with solid wall insulation. I've rang up 4 different initiatives so far and none of them do anything but loft and cavity wall. We have loft insulation, but I don't think it's up to scratch so hopefully we can at least get help with that, but I really don't think it'll help much without the walls being done also.

The landlord is willing to help with the cost, but is very unwilling to front the whole cost until next summer, which isn't much use.

You've already got efficient heating in the form of electric storage heaters providing your background heat and a gas fire for the living room for a burst of heat. It's cheaper to run an efficient gas fire than it is to run a gas boiler.

Switching to gas central heating won't save much on running costs.

Insulation will save you much more in the short term.