Electric only house

CBeardsworth

Hi all,
I have had an offer accepted on a 3 bed terraced house and I am contemplating what to do with the heating, if anything, when I complete. It is currently electric only and was built in 2000 (its a shame they don't just build houses with GCH in this day and age).

I have a few options:
1) Leave it as it is and just move in - cheap now, expensive in the long run
2) Get gas connected, install GCH (and a gas hob!) then move in - expensive now but cheaper bills (for now)
3) Try and make it more efficient by adding PV solar panels or similar renewable source. expensive now, not sure how cheap the bills would get, maybe worth it in the long run?

I'd be interested in hearing peoples opinions on this and if anyone has any experiences or regrets they could share?

gettingtheresometime

I presume its Economy 7 heating?


We had it on our first home and found it very economical....the only downside was that if you had a sudden cold snap you had to suffer for 24 hrs!


My Aunt also had it and would time to do everything in the cheap period!

davidmcn

Have you checked that there's a gas supply available?

CBeardsworth

davidmcn wrote: »

Have you checked that there's a gas supply available?

It will have to be connected which the gas supplier has said would be between £350-650.

G_M

for info on alternatives, ask here.

glasgowdan

I'd connect the gas if that's all it'll cost. Either that, or get a wood burning stove installed and enjoy that. Induction hobs and modern elec ovens deal with cooking very well

PersianCatLady

CBeardsworth wrote: »

Hi all,
I have had an offer accepted on a 3 bed terraced house and I am contemplating what to do with the heating, if anything, when I complete. It is currently electric only and was built in 2000 (its a shame they don't just build houses with GCH in this day and age).

They do still build houses with GCH today, my house was built in 2013 and has GCH.


Usually houses are only all electric if there is no access to mains gas but purpose built blocks of flats are more likely to be all electric.

Grenage

In your position, I would probably want GSH - if only for resale appeal. There's no better time to install than before you move in.

rtho782

Forget gas.

Our house has gas, we only use it for the oven and for hot water. (combi boiler) We have Air Source Heat Pumps in the lounge, kitchen, and bedrooms. So air con in the summer and heating in the winter.

Electricity is 8.8p/kWh, Gas is 2.4p/kWh, but ASHPs are about 400% efficient, that is, 1kW of power gives you 4kW of heat, pumped in from outside, so it's cheaper to heat, gives us room by room control, and is generally awesome.

CBeardsworth

rtho782 wrote: »

Forget gas.

Our house has gas, we only use it for the oven and for hot water. (combi boiler) We have Air Source Heat Pumps in the lounge, kitchen, and bedrooms. So air con in the summer and heating in the winter.

Electricity is 8.8p/kWh, Gas is 2.4p/kWh, but ASHPs are about 400% efficient, that is, 1kW of power gives you 4kW of heat, pumped in from outside, so it's cheaper to heat, gives us room by room control, and is generally awesome.

Good to hear you're very happy! Do you have ASHP going into underfloor heating?

rosyw

Having lived in areas without gas for many years I now have a home with the "luxury" of mains gas, and wouldn't be without it.

If you can get the gas connected the price quoted I'd do it, it cost me thousands due to being at the very end of a very long drive, but still worth it, I was using bottled gas before that.

All electric is fine - until there's a power cut, so no heat, light, cooking etc, we were once without electricity for 3 days following a bad winter storm- it wasn't fun and I now have all options covered for the odd days of scheduled maintenance on overhead cables etc.or unforeseen power cuts, a gas hob means I can still cook and make tea/coffee or whatever and a wood burner in the living room means I can also keep warm