Central heating cost

Tranquil

Please excuse any ignorance in this question as I am young and naive... :A
After so long, I have finally come to the conclusion that my basic electric heaters and immersion heater just aren't cutting it and looking to upgrade to central heating. My reasoning behind this is mostly to increase the value and attractiveness of the property as I am planning to sell/rent out in 3-4 years. Plus, the excessive cost of electric heating.
I am in the process of clearing debt predicted to be cleared in 2.5 years, so this leaves little over for saving. I have not had quotes but based on friends/family who have had similar done in my area, I predict £3000-4000 (only 5 radiators needed).
It simply will not be possible in the next three years to save up for this and pay it outright. How do other people manage to pay something like that on a debit card?!
So my question is whether I get in my debt to do this, but save on electric heating costs and increase value for selling/renting, or stick to what I have and accept that as I am in debt, this is not possible.
If I were to take some sort of finance, how do I do this? Is it like getting a car on HP where the car company sorts out finance for you, or is it best to take a bank loan?
Any opinions would be very welcome please.

CashStrapped

Hmm,

What is the exact set-up of your current system. Are they storage heaters? Or are they instant use panel heaters?

What is your annual electricity bill in kwh?
What tariff are you on?

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You also need to decide if you are planning to sell or let out.

If you decide to rent, having all electric may not affect how much you get per month a huge amount.

It may make far more sense to rent it out for a bit, clear your current debt with the income and then put any future income aside. When you have saved enough to pay for a new central heating system, then do it.

I have let out all electric properties in the past (most modern flats are all electric) and it has never been an issue. You just need to leave clear instructions on how to use them, especially with storage heaters.

It would make far more sense to do it this way round than getting into further debt first.

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In terms of sale value, ask an estate agent how much it will gain on sale price. If the property needs a lot of work doing to it in general, it may be pointless fitting a central heating system for the purposes of a sale going ahead in the immediate future. It may only add a similar amount in sale price compared to how much it cost to install. Hard to say without knowing the condition of the rest of the property.

Tranquil

CashStrapped wrote: »

Hmm,

What is the exact set-up of your current system. Are they storage heaters? Or are they instant use panel heaters?

What is your annual electricity bill in kwh?
What tariff are you on?

---

You also need to decide if you are planning to sell or let out.

If you decide to rent, having all electric may not affect how much you get per month a huge amount.

It may make far more sense to rent it out for a bit, clear your current debt with the income and then put any future income aside. When you have saved enough to pay for a new central heating system, then do it.

I have let out all electric properties in the past (most modern flats are all electric) and it has never been an issue. You just need to leave clear instructions on how to use them, especially with storage heaters.

It would make far more sense to do it this way round than getting into further debt first.

---

In terms of sale value, ask an estate agent how much it will gain on sale price. If the property needs a lot of work doing to it in general, it may be pointless fitting a central heating system for the purposes of a sale going ahead in the immediate future. It may only add a similar amount in sale price compared to how much it cost to install. Hard to say without knowing the condition of the rest of the property.

Thanks - no they are just plain old convector heaters that have been stuck onto the wall. I am on a fixed tariff until Jul '19 of 0.1445 day and 0.0978 night per kwh so it isn't too expensive actually but that is probably because I am out quite a lot. I don't think an elderly person or people with small children could live here due to how cold it can get - my kitchen doesn't even have any heating. I am on a fixed direct debit of £59 per month with quarterly bills.

That makes sense about electric and hopefully won't make too much of a difference in the attractiveness of it for tenants. Apart from needing painting, condition is fine - lots of little things could be done but nothing major. In hindsight, I wish I had offered lower for the property myself and given myself extra money to sort out the heating. But it sounds sensible to wait until debt is cleared to not owe even more money!

CashStrapped

Wait, you say you have standard convetor heaters, but you have an E7 tariff?

Depending on your overall night use, this could be costing you.

Go through your account and meter reading history. Write down all the confirmed/actual meter readings (not estimated ones) and the dates they were taken.

Then from this you can work out your annual use in kwh and your night rate %.

You may save more money switching to a single rate tariff. But, you won't know till you do the maths.

Robin9

Do you already have gas in the property? If not your budget will get blown apart by the cost of establishing a gas service.

jk0

No storage heaters? Are you sure? Then I think I would buy some second hand ones on Ebay. Also some spur box timeswitches for them if you don't want to change the wiring.

Also, your night rate does not sound very cheap. I'm paying about half that, though my fix ends soon.

Tranquil

Robin9 wrote: »

Do you already have gas in the property? If not your budget will get blown apart by the cost of establishing a gas service.

Unfortunately not...so if it was something I decided to do, I would almost certainly need to use finance or a loan, which is not ideal obviously.

Tranquil

jk0 wrote: »

No storage heaters? Are you sure? Then I think I would buy some second hand ones on Ebay. Also some spur box timeswitches for them if you don't want to change the wiring.

Also, your night rate does not sound very cheap. I'm paying about half that, though my fix ends soon.

Yes unfortunately no storage heaters at all. I heard storage heaters can be really expensive and not very 'controllable' meaning wasted heat, particularly as I am out most of the time. Is this your experience?

CashStrapped

Storage heaters are often the cheapest way to heat an all electric property, if used correctly. But, if you plan at some point to install gas, it becomes a moot point.

Considering them as an option when you cost everything up will be useful however. You may find that the cost of connecting to the gas mains and subsequent istallations costs are way over your budget.

In the mean time, getting the best out of your current set-up is something you should explore and may give you savings for very little, if any, outlay.

If you can type your annual use in kwh and your day night split as mentioned in my second post, we can get a better idea of your use.

jk0

If you are really concerned about wasting energy, there are always the Dimplex Quantum heaters. These are about £700 each. However, by the time you break even over 2nd hand storage heaters, the Quantums will require expensive repairs.

I have bought 2nd hand storage heaters on ebay for as little as £9, though did have to drive 100 miles to collect.

Tranquil

CashStrapped wrote: »

Storage heaters are often the cheapest way to heat an all electric property, if used correctly. But, if you plan at some point to install gas, it becomes a moot point.

Considering them as an option when you cost everything up will be useful however. You may find that the cost of connecting to the gas mains and subsequent istallations costs are way over your budget.

In the mean time, getting the best out of your current set-up is something you should explore and may give you savings for very little, if any, outlay.

If you can type your annual use in kwh and your day night split as mentioned in my second post, we can get a better idea of your use.

Yeah, I'm thinking it will seem way over my budget at the moment so that sounds sensible. I recently switched providers and seem unable to access them annoyingly.