New Central Heating System Confusion

Bettycheese

I’m sure this topic has probably been done to death but I can’t find a post that addresses my situation specifically.
We have had an offer accepted on a house that needs renovating, including central heating. The house is a fairly bog standard 60’s built 3 bed semi with one bathroom.

Our current plan is that we will probably stay in the house for between 1 and 3 years and then sell; either with an initial refurb with the house as it stands, or possibly initial refurb, and if finances permit next year we might do the two storey side extension that the house lends itself to nicely which would give better proportioned bedrooms, a bigger kitchen, a utility room and an additional en-suite bathroom.. Given the location and price bracket of the house, when we sell, the target market will probably be first-time buyers. As this is not a high end property, we want to do the refurb to a good standard, but being mindful of costs, and not making it so high-spec that we end up not making much profit (plus our renovation budget is not bottomless).

There is currently an oil fired boiler but we’re told that it no longer works, and as the house is the only one left in the area that used oil, the tank is being dismantled so oil is no longer an option (we wouldn’t have wanted oil anyway). Gas is available in the close, but think we would need to have it piped to the house.

My Partner is extremely keen to investigate ‘green’ alternatives for the heating/hot water, whereas my gut feeling is that on a renovation for a house like this, and given the potential market when we sell, gas would be the best option – reliable, controllable, efficient, and being mindful of resale, people are familiar with it and see it as a ‘safe’ option. (It would be fair to say that I’m more risk averse than my partner at the best of times).

I’ve done some reading about what the alternatives may be, and have found electric (either storage or more modern radiators), air or ground sourced heat pumps, or infra-red panels. Do people have any experience of being in this situation, and advice re any of these options? Are there other things we should consider?

It seems like the sale is going to go through fairly quickly so we don’t have the luxury of too much time to consider our options, and realise that if we do go for gas, it could take a few weeks to get installed. There is an emersion that works so we will have hot water from day one, but the central heating needs to be addressed fairly quickly as it will hold up the rest of the renovation (ie decorating, flooring, new bathroom).

Any advice for a confused home-buyer would be appreciated.

Thanks.

EachPenny

Is this the same house you posted about the other day on the subject of changing from oil to gas? There's a lot of information in this post you didn't put in the previous one so not quite clear if you are talking about the same place.

Bettycheese

Yes EachPenny it is. We have now gained much more information about the property hence the more detailed questions. Thanks for your response.

EachPenny

Bettycheese wrote: »

My Partner is extremely keen to investigate ‘green’ alternatives for the heating/hot water, whereas my gut feeling is that on a renovation for a house like this, and given the potential market when we sell, gas would be the best option – reliable, controllable, efficient, and being mindful of resale, people are familiar with it and see it as a ‘safe’ option. (It would be fair to say that I’m more risk averse than my partner at the best of times).

I suspect you already know the answer but just need confirmation you are thinking the right way.

Others may be able to come up with better ideas, but I'd offer some generalisations:

Bog standard systems are likely to have a lower capital cost than 'green' alternatives, but you may be able to get a grant of some kind which could reduce the difference. Capital cost is going to be important to you as you don't intend to stay there long-term.

On the other thread you got advice that gas is likely to be more attractive when it comes to resale, which you'd probably understand given your aversion to oil.

The problem with gas is you don't have a supply and have no idea of the cost involved in getting one. So before you make a decision you need to get accurate quotes for the cost of laying on a gas supply to the house. This could make all the difference in capital cost between a bog standard combi gas system and something more exotic.

It is an important decision which could make a very big difference to the profit on your refurbishment. Not something to rush into. As you have an immersion heater for water and as it is nearly summer, I'd use some portable electric heaters for any temporary space heating requirements and would take my time to get quotes and find the most cost effective solution, even if that results in some delay in getting on with the refurbishment.

Bettycheese

Thank you EachPenny. Yes I think you're right that as it will hopefully be warm (or at least mild!) when we take possession, living withour central heating won't be too much of a hardship and would give us time to consider.

If I can be shown hard evidence that alternatives would be more cost-effective to install and run then I'm happy to consider, but it seems such a minefield.

Mutton_Geoff

You may find if there is already a gas main in the street, then the connection charge is capped at a few hundred pounds since the government subsidise connections to get people onto the main supplies.


https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/system/files/docs/2016/10/how_do_i_obtain_a_one-off_domestic_gas_connection.pdf

EachPenny

Bettycheese wrote: »

...living withour central heating won't be too much of a hardship and would give us time to consider.

People forget that a generation or two ago central heating was a luxury that few could afford. My 1965 built house only had a coal fire for heating. Some neighbours still hadn't converted to CH in the early 2000's. The cost of running some portable heaters on the chillier summer nights is trivial compared to the investment you are making.

Bettycheese wrote: »

If I can be shown hard evidence that alternatives would be more cost-effective to install and run then I'm happy to consider, but it seems such a minefield.

You're not looking long-term so you have the advantage of running costs being a secondary consideration. So you have a simple decision to make on which capital investment will provide the most return, or least loss. You can only do that with hard evidence, hence the need to get quotes for the work needed in your specific situation.

BTW if the current owners haven't completely removed the old boiler you might want to think about asking them to leave it in place if there is a possibility of getting some kind of trade-in or scrappage value from it.

macman

The fact that all your neighbours have converted to gas already tells you that the cost of mains connection should not be prohibitive. If that is so, then gas CH and DHW is by far the cheapest option to run at present. You should be able to use the existing rads, so it's just a boiler change once the gas is connected.
The next cheapest option is probably storage heaters and an immersion heater running on E7, but that does not give you the flexibility of gas CH. Oil or LPG are more expensive to run per kWh.