Electric boiler OR new gas boiler

blinko

Hi all,
I was hoping to seek some advice, my property is F rated on the EPC and I need to get the rating up to at least an E, the only way to do this is cavity wall insulation OR putting in a new boiler.

The current setup is an old electric boiler, theres no gas supply to the property so it will cost appro £800 to connect it to the mains, the install gas boiler and cooker.

OR

Buy a new electric boiler ideally one that is able to heat water on demand like a combi boiler.

What do you guys think I should go with

1. New modern electric boiler
2. Gas boiler

Thanks

molerat

Gas, no contest. The outlay will likely be a bit higher but the running costs will be way lower and much more controllable.

Mister_G

molerat wrote: »

Gas, no contest. The outlay will likely be a bit higher but the running costs will be way lower and much more controllable.

It will also add more to the value of the house when you come to sell.

matelodave

Gas - as molerat says it will cost you far less to run. Electric boilers must be the moste expensive way to heat a house known to man (apart from Fischer heaters).

A further benefit is that gas will add value to your house, usually a lot more than the outlay to get it installed.

Electric heating especially by boiler will detract both from it's value and saleability

Raxiel

If it really is just £800 to connect gas, it will pay for itself in a single winter.

Owain_Moneysaver

You cannot get an electric boiler that will heat water on demand 'like a combi boiler'.

Max electric boiler power is about 10kW (same as an electric shower).

A gas combi boiler will be 25-40kW. You wouldn't be able to run anything that powerful on a domestic electricity supply.

System

This is typical of the advice on various websites:

Quote: Will electric heating make a difference to my EPC rating?

The dreaded ‘1 star rating’ is understandably a cause for concern for any landlord, especially for those that take pride in offering the very best for their tenants, and it can be very disheartening to receive this rating if you’ve just updated your heating system. Unfortunately, in order for EPC ratings to be comparable on a like-for-like basis, the system has to paint in the broadest of broad strokes and this means making many generalisations when it comes to running costs and energy usage.

Rather than looking at actual efficiency at point of use – of which electric heaters always get 100%! – EPC ratings are more concerned with the base unit cost of energy, so when it comes to gas versus electric, gas will always come out as top dog. Electric heating doesn’t fare well on the CO2 ratings chart either as the assessment is based on the production of electricity via our inefficient and somewhat outdated power stations. None of this necessarily means that your heating system is poor quality; in fact, the most sophisticated electric heating solutions on the market could still be judged as a 1 star system purely because of our predominant use of fossil fuels to create electricity. This neatly brings us to our next topic: the problems with EPC ratings for landlords. Unquote

It is though worth pointing out that a new gas boiler installation has to comply with the latest Boiler Plus 2018 Regulations:

Gas boiler performance: space heating efficiency of the new boiler no less than ErP 92%

Time and temperature control required for all gas and oil boiler installations

Combi boiler installations must also include one of the following: Weather compensation, Load compensation, Flue Gas Heat Recovery, Smart controls.


An estimate of £800 looks rather low to me.

There are cheaper and more obvious improvements that are worth looking at first: for example: LED lighting throughout the property; increased loft installation

Mister_G

I read it that the £800 is just to connect the supply. The boiler etc will be on top of that.

blinko

yeah it is about £800 to connect the suppl to the property, then the old water tank and boiler will need to be removed and then gas combi boiler put in

OR

I pay for an awesome and advanced electric boiler , I believe there are electric boilers that heat water on demand, they are called direct electric boilers

https://www.centralheating-quotes.com/boiler/electric-boilers/

Cardew

blinko wrote: »

yeah it is about £800 to connect the suppl to the property, then the old water tank and boiler will need to be removed and then gas combi boiler put in

OR

I pay for an awesome and advanced electric boiler , I believe there are electric boilers that heat water on demand, they are called direct electric boilers

https://www.centralheating-quotes.com/boiler/electric-boilers/

The most powerful 'combi' boiler in that link is 12kW. IMO that is insufficient to provide an adequate flow of hot water in winter. Gas combi's with double that output can struggle.


Also it will need an RCD(circuit breaker) and wiring to cope with 50 amps - I think a 63 amp RCD is a standard size.

blinko

thanks the property is a 1 bedflat 1st floor flat and it has an RCD unit in place for the existing hot water cylinder system