Electric fire or gas central heating, which is cheapest?

donnajunkie

We had our gas fire replaced with an electric fire and as the title suggests we are wondering whether it's more cost effective to use the electric fire or to use the gas central heating.

CashStrapped

This question gets asked a lot.

Electricity costs 4 - 5 times more than the cheapest Gas. So your central heating would be cheaper to run. The one caviat is that this depends on the estimated efficiency of your boiler. But even in a worse case scenario, the Gas boiler should be cheaper.

The second caveat is whether on not you need to heat the rest of the property and what systems controls you have to manage it. Digital Thermostat, TRV valves etc.

If you have a three bedroom house, but never use the other rooms. Then using the electric fire for that one room may indeed be cheaper. But, most people do not live like this. It would be impractical and bad for your health. Not heating large areas of the property is also not usually good for the property. Especially in winter.

So, if you have good controls, radiator TRV valves (which you can turn down for unused rooms). GCH will always be cheaper.

macman

My question would be -why? You've replaced a gas fire with something that will cost 300% more to run per kWh.

donnajunkie

CashStrapped wrote: »

This question gets asked a lot.

Electricity costs 4 - 5 times more than the cheapest Gas. So your central heating would be cheaper to run. The one caviat is that this depends on the estimated efficiency of your boiler. But even in a worse case scenario, the Gas boiler should be cheaper.

The second caveat is whether on not you need to heat the rest of the property and what systems controls you have to manage it. Digital Thermostat, TRV valves etc.

If you have a three bedroom house, but never use the other rooms. Then using the electric fire for that one room may indeed be cheaper. But, most people do not live like this. It would be impractical and bad for your health. Not heating large areas of the property is also not usually good for the property. Especially in winter.

So, if you have good controls, radiator TRV valves (which you can turn down for unused rooms). GCH will always be cheaper.

the boiler was new as well. when the heating is turned on we set the temp and if the actual temp reaches that then the heating turns itself off until the temp drops below again. the electric fire is one of those that blows the heat out into the room.
whether we use the other rooms and benefit from heating them is not an important factor to us. the sole important factor is which costs us more. would the fire by itself mount up a higher cost than the heating. its all about keeping the bills down.

donnajunkie

macman wrote: »

My question would be -why? You've replaced a gas fire with something that will cost 300% more to run per kWh.

we had no choice, it wasnt our decision.

CashStrapped

donnajunkie wrote: »

whether we use the other rooms and benefit from heating them is not an important factor to us. the sole important factor is which costs us more. would the fire by itself mount up a higher cost than the heating. its all about keeping the bills down.

Well, that is my point, it is a factor.

If you do not use the rest of the house, and all huddle in one room to keep warm, a very unlikely scenario, the the electric fire may cost less. But only because it is heating one room.

You are trying to compare something that is designed to heat a single room with something that is designed to heat the whole property.

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If you are using the central heating (which will also heat the rest of the house), but also use the fire to heat that room , then you are just wasting money (especially if you do not turn off the radiator in that room).

In fact, if you have TRV valves on your radiators, you could isolate the front room only (just heat that room). In that scenario, the gas central heating would still be cheaper as the boiler is only heating one radiator.

Basically, if you had a modern central heating system, with good controls the central heating, and which uses gas, this will be cheaper.

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I assume you have TRV valves on your radiators. Good use of these could save a decent amount in the average sized property.

All this comes down to the fact that Electricity is 4-5 times more expensive than gas. Best price for gas is around 2p per kwh. Best price for electric is around 9p per kwh.

donnajunkie

the radiators just have the usual valve that turns them on or off. temperature control is solely done by the control panel in the hall.

CashStrapped

Hmm - considering the boiler is a modern one (as you suggested), I would have expected TRV valves on the radiators. I would consider getting these fitted. Honeywell are a good brand.

These turn the radiators off automatically in individual rooms when that room is at the correct temperature. This means your boiler works less hard, and therefore uses less gas, which saves money.

missbiggles1

CashStrapped wrote: »

This question gets asked a lot.

Electricity costs 4 - 5 times more than the cheapest Gas. So your central heating would be cheaper to run. The one caviat is that this depends on the estimated efficiency of your boiler. But even in a worse case scenario, the Gas boiler should be cheaper.

The second caveat is whether on not you need to heat the rest of the property and what systems controls you have to manage it. Digital Thermostat, TRV valves etc.

If you have a three bedroom house, but never use the other rooms. Then using the electric fire for that one room may indeed be cheaper. But, most people do not live like this. It would be impractical and bad for your health. Not heating large areas of the property is also not usually good for the property. Especially in winter.

So, if you have good controls, radiator TRV valves (which you can turn down for unused rooms). GCH will always be cheaper.

Makes you wonder how any of us who grew up without central heating (or the millions of houses which were without it for more than a century) ever survived.:rotfl:

donnajunkie

CashStrapped wrote: »

Hmm - considering the boiler is a modern one (as you suggested), I would have expected TRV valves on the radiators. I would consider getting these fitted. Honeywell are a good brand.

These turn the radiators off automatically in individual rooms when that room is at the correct temperature. This means your boiler works less hard, and therefore uses less gas, which saves money.

they did not replace the radiators when they installed the new boiler and fire.

CashStrapped

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Makes you wonder how any of us who grew up without central heating (or the millions of houses which were without it for more than a century) ever survived.:rotfl:

I remember burst pipes being a much more common occurrence. And people did indeed used to keep together in one room more often, with a roaring fire. Even then, working fireplaces were common in every room.

As with all things, you have to judge things by modern standards and expectations.

Houses are more airtight now. So not heating large areas of a property (especially if they are in use) means warm moist air (from the heated areas) is trapped in the property and will be more likely to condensate in the colder areas of the property, causing damp and possibly mould.

Also, they were a tougher breed back then . I have heard the stories of breaking ice of the window in the morning.:eek:

donnajunkie wrote: »

they did not replace the radiators when they installed the new boiler and fire.

Even so, with a new boiler install, a good plumber would look at the system as a whole and update where required. A new boiler would have been a good time to do this. New radiators are not a requirement for TRV valves. They can be easily retrofitted. I would certainly look into it.