Will swapping from oil to gas be cost effective?

Sinbad

I recently moved into a bungalow which has no gas. The central heating / HW system is heated by oil, specifically a Worcester Heat Slave 15/19. By doing a bit of Googling I have found that it is a 'C' rated boiler with an efficiency of 82.8%

I have enquired as to the cost of getting a gas main provided and was surprised it was “only” 500.00

I understand that oil heating is currently cheaper than gas but I know that oil prices are more volatile than gas.

If I was to get gas installed and with it a new A rated boiler, would I be saving money in the long run?

Thanks

J_B

Ain't broke, don't fix?

500 for the supply, maybe another 200 for fitting perhaps, then a new boiler for 1500 (?)

All that to gain another 10% efficiency - do the sums.

Gloomendoom

As above, although the gas would be a lot more convenient. No tank, deliveries or smelly oil.

Cardew

Sinbad wrote: »

I understand that oil heating is currently cheaper than gas but I know that oil prices are more volatile than gas.

If I was to get gas installed and with it a new A rated boiler, would I be saving money in the long run?

Thanks

Oil is not currently cheaper than gas, prices are between 35p to 40p for a litre so 3.5p/kWh to 4p/kWh; gas on the cheapest tariffs is well below 3p/kWh.

None the less the reasoning in the posts above is sound. Any savings you make with a gas boiler will take many years to cover the expenditure.

dogshome

It's only my opinion
Stay with your oil boiler, they are more expensive to buy and the reason is that because they are built higher standards of materials and engineering, they have a much longer life than the present generation of Gas boilers.

YES oil is subject to volatile pricing and with Opec getting it's cartel act together again, the price will go up, BUT, the Americans who are not in the cartel are very much still in the game, so the days of 60p a litre are unlikely to return.
Buy your annual tank fill in July/August to get a good deal and phone around 4/5 local suppliers for quotes

The annual service, (A Must), on my oil boiler costs £70, but that really is a Service with parts changed - My neighbor on Gas pays £55 for what is only an inspection.
When comparing Gas/Oil costs, keep in mind that the gas customer is paying a service charge of around £96 a year on top of the consumption costs