Fire: Gas v Electric

Willsie01

We're adding a room to the back of our house that will require an additional fire for those times when you need to heat a room and the CH is not on.

The problem we're having is deciding whether to choose gas or electric. Seems to me to be the case installing gas will be more expensive initially but cheaper to run. How do I evaluate these costs and work out a break even point where the the benefit of cheaper gas outweighs the additional cost of installation.

Robin9

Are you looking for a focal point - like in a lounge ? Or for background heat - like in a study or hobby room ?

Why would you want to heat this room when the CH is not on - do you heat the ther rooms in this situation ?

Robin9

I did some alterations a few years ago and I've got a study with no radiator on my gas CH. The room is very well insulated .

I've got a wall mounted fire and only used it a few times

nigelbb

Willsie01 wrote: »

We're adding a room to the back of our house that will require an additional fire for those times when you need to heat a room and the CH is not on.

The problem we're having is deciding whether to choose gas or electric. Seems to me to be the case installing gas will be more expensive initially but cheaper to run. How do I evaluate these costs and work out a break even point where the the benefit of cheaper gas outweighs the additional cost of installation.

Heating with electricity is up to 5x the cost of heating with gas.

We are getting a gas fire fitted in our living room at a cost of about £1300 even though a £10 electric fan heater could do much the same job. The gas fire will look nicer & run quieter so we are prepared to pay the extra. It's much cheaper to run but that was only one factor in choosing gas.

Willsie01

It will be a focal point of a new living room that we're planning to have underfloor heating installed in. But I expect it to be used in the same way as the gas fire in our existing lounge where we put it on for brief periods when we want a burst of warmth to the room without heating the whole house. Maybe a bit more because underfloor heating has a slower heating response.

grumpycrab

Willsie01 wrote: »

But I expect it to be used in the same way as the gas fire in our existing lounge

Answered your own question by the sound of it. Is the underfloor heating provided by existing CH?

Willsie01

grumpycrab wrote: »

Answered your own question by the sound of it. Is the underfloor heating provided by existing CH?

Q Gas or electric? Not sure how I've answered that myself?

Underfloor heating needs a manifold to be added to the existing system uprated as necessary.

JJ_Egan

Quick boost to heat = electric .
All this depends upon how much heat required .
Cost of laying pipework and fixing gas fire v cost of plugging in an electric heater .

Willsie01

grumpycrab wrote: »

Answered your own question by the sound of it. Is the underfloor heating provided by existing CH?

...we're in St Albans

nigelbb

JJ_Egan wrote: »

Quick boost to heat = electric .
All this depends upon how much heat required .
Cost of laying pipework and fixing gas fire v cost of plugging in an electric heater .

An electric heater will be 3kW max while a gas fire can be up to 6kW max so the room will warm up quicker with a gas fire.

The cost of heating with electric is up to 5x the cost of using gas. A 3kW electric fire will cost about 50p per hour versus it only costs around 10p an hour to run a gas fire with the same amount of heat.

Cardew

Willsie01 wrote: »

. How do I evaluate these costs and work out a break even point where the the benefit of cheaper gas outweighs the additional cost of installation.

We would need to know the cost of fitting a gas fire; and how many hours in the winter it would be used.



If the cost of a gas fire + fitting is the same as post #4 (£1,300) and the efficiency of the gas fire is, say, 80% it will take many years to break even, especially as you only intend to

'put it on for brief periods when we want a burst of warmth to the room