Electric central heating?

flibberjig

Hi everyone,
We have seen a house that we would love to buy but it has electric central heating. It has an electric boiler that heats the water and the radiators throughout. Does anyone know whether the energy costs are just going to be ridiculous? Is there anything else we should be aware of, such as does the water/radiators take ages to heat up?

Houses nearby have gas so we may look to get connected in the future. If we do, does anyone know whether we could still use all the same pipework and radiators, just change the boiler?

Thank you for your help!

wavelets

flibberjig wrote: »

Hi everyone,
We have seen a house that we would love to buy but it has electric central heating. It has an electric boiler that heats the water and the radiators throughout. Does anyone know whether the energy costs are just going to be ridiculous? Is there anything else we should be aware of, such as does the water/radiators take ages to heat up?

Houses nearby have gas so we may look to get connected in the future. If we do, does anyone know whether we could still use all the same pipework and radiators, just change the boiler?

Thank you for your help!

The electricity will be charged at the rate according to the tariff you choose.

Electricity is typically 3-4 times more expensive than gas per kWh, but an electric boiler is more efficient than any gas boiler (so you won't need to put so much energy in to get a fixed amount of energy out as useful heat)

It's impossible to say how the system will operate as we have no idea what system exactly that is installed. e.g. some systems work on a thermal store, so the hot water is ready & waiting, and so will heat up radiators much quicker than say a typical gas system where the boiler only comes on when heat is being called for.

Best solution would be to discuss all these type of queries with the current owners

As regards changing the electric boiler for a gas one, again you may want to ask the current owners why they (a) have an electric boiler and (b) have not changed it to gas themselves.
It maybe they have already looked into this, or have the expertise to answer your query about using the same pipework & radiators.
It sounds probable, but again it may be system dependent. If you want a definitive answer, get approval from the current owners to have a suitably qualified heating engineer to take a look for you, and give you a quote for the work necessary (which will, by definition, include what needs to be done)

flibberjig

Thank you so much! That's such a helpful response. I'm just so worried that we will move in and find that our energy costs 3 times as much as before! We aren't very careful with energy usage at the moment though so maybe being careful combined with it being more efficient will mean that it's not as expensive as I am worried about.

I'll definitely have a chat with the owners about everything and I'll look a bit further into the system they have.

Thank you for your help.

foxy-stoat

There must of been a reason why an electric boiler was fitted - maybe ask for their electric usage over the winter months if its going to be a deal breaker.

nigelbb

There are plenty of properties that aren't on mains gas & are never likely to be either https://www.nongasmap.org.uk

Electric water boilers are unusual as there are other more economical fuels e.g. oil or LPG.

AndyPK

I would have thought existing pipes could be reused.

And a gas boiler fitted for £3K

+ installation of gas supply which could cost more than you think!!??

macman

An electric boiler is certainly more efficient than a gas one. But this does not begin to offset the difference between gas and electricity kWh prices. So you will indeed be paying about 300% more than you would with mains gas CH and DHW.
The rads and pipework would normally be just the same as with a gas or LPG/oil system. But there must be a good reason why an electric boiler was installed: usually done in rental properties where the LL is not paying the energy bills.

wavelets

macman wrote: »

... But there must be a good reason why an electric boiler was installed: usually done in rental properties where the LL is not paying the energy bills.

I'm not aware of many landlords who would opt to install an electric boiler powered wet central heating system in anything other than possibly a high-end luxury apartment.

Where gas central heating is not deemed appropriate, the landlord would typically opt for an electric immersion heater for DHW, and NSHs

A wet electric heating system is expensive in comparison and has all the high maintenance costs associated with a gas powered wet system (save for the CP12).
In contrast NSH are cheap to install, cheap to run, and rarely go wrong (and if they do, they are cheap to repair)
Cheap to run is important as it will make the rental property more easily rentable, and also allows the property to be kept from freezing for the same low cost by the landlord during any unlet periods in the winter.
(Frozen pipes can cause some very expensive damage, not to mention loss of rental income for the long period to claer up the resulting mess)
Similarly, immersion heaters need little maintenance, and when they do fail cost only about about £20-£30 plus labour to replace.