Install gas or go green?

reeac

The RHI transforms the economics. You can recover a good deal of the capital cost over 7 years. One point, though, is that presumably you have no radiators and associated pupework at present so you'd have to get all that installed. This will need costing although the good news is that the system can be designed to suit the lower temperature output of a heat pump.
My son is about to convert from oil to an air source heat pump system having discussed it with a neighbour who switched about a year ago. If our 22 year old boiler were to go seriously wrong I think that I would follow suit.

busybee100

We downsized last year to a house with small storage heaters. I really struggled with what would be the best for us as I would have loved to invest in ashp and solar. Eventually I opted for a gas supply and central heating, it still doesn't sit well with me but I just couldn't make the figures work. The big thing for me is adequate heating in Winter, now that's sorted I can think about solar for when the next incentive comes along and then an ev. It did feel like a huge decision but it was thinking about heating that made me realise which route to take.

Richie-from-the-Boro

"on the coldest days my living room isn't comfortable as the storage heater in there is too small for the space"

Says it all really. Radiation is good Convection is bad. So any standard 3.4kW storage heater £300+ wired in-line could be supplement your living area, installed and wired in 30 minutes.

In most cases many many people who've had storage heaters for 40-50 years still have not learned to use them correctly, e.g. I've never opened a damper - ever.

Stored water and heat is about 30% cheaper than normal electric. Unless someone has been unlucky they are maintenance free. Get on a good E7 tariff. Last advice stay clear of Fischer and other similar advertisers, they are NOT storage heater, they STORE no heat.

Save your money for the real need - insulation & glazing. Best of luck.

cagreen13

[/QUOTE]Stored water and heat is about 30% cheaper than normal electric.

Last advice stay clear of Fischer and other similar advertisers, they are NOT storage heater, they STORE no heat.

Save your money for the real need - insulation & glazing. Best of luck.[/.[/QUOTE]

Thank you for mentioning water - I forgot to mention that my water isn’t heated by my E7 tariff and that’s something I need to look into. Any advice on how? Aside from the obvious of contacting my supplier?

Yes I have seen through Fischer...my good storage heaters are from Dimplex and have been very reliable. I’d be tempted to stick with them if I went down this route but need to do more research.

I’d love to do more in the way of insulation but I’ve already done cavity walls and loft. When the previous occupant bought the bungalow new in the 50s he filled every crack in the floorboards with sawdust and glue to stop the draughts. Pretty enterprising for the time but now I simply can’t face the thought of trying to get the floorboards up to add insulation! I might well end up without a floor!:rotfl:

Owain_Moneysaver

Good thick underlay and carpet makes a surprising difference to a wooden floor.

Or cork tiles/underlay under laminate or engineered wood if you want a solid floor finish.

bristolleedsfan

PennineAcute wrote: »

Make your decision before 2025, otherwise you will have installed mains gas and cannot get a combi boiler. If my memory serves me correctly, new installations of gas heating is banned from 2025.

Or it is maybe just new gas main installtions that are banned from 2025.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-47559920

Richie-from-the-Boro

cagreen13 wrote: »

Stored water and heat is about 30% cheaper than normal electric.

Last advice stay clear of Fischer and other similar advertisers, they are NOT storage heater, they STORE no heat.

Save your money for the real need - insulation & glazing. Best of luck.[/.[/QUOTE]

Thank you for mentioning water - I forgot to mention that my water isn’t heated by my E7 tariff and that’s something I need to look into. Any advice on how? Aside from the obvious of contacting my supplier?

Yes I have seen through Fischer...my good storage heaters are from Dimplex and have been very reliable. I’d be tempted to stick with them if I went down this route but need to do more research.

I’d love to do more in the way of insulation but I’ve already done cavity walls and loft. When the previous occupant bought the bungalow new in the 50s he filled every crack in the floorboards with sawdust and glue to stop the draughts. Pretty enterprising for the time but now I simply can’t face the thought of trying to get the floorboards up to add insulation! I might well end up without a floor!:rotfl:[/QUOTE]

Most regulars on this site know I'm a fan of Quantum. With water you need a partL type compatible cylinder preferably with enough head-height for gravity fed hot water system. It's a heck of a price for a centrally controlled water and heat system and will be a - l o n g break even point.

However if you install a 3.4 kW any brand in your [most of your waking life] your living room you will have a sufficiently comfortable area to spend your life. The trick (and there is one) is to learn to use NSH and drive the % of night use ALL water and heat to 30%+ of ALL use.

- you will, twice a year need instant on demand heating
- you need both water and heat on E7
- you need a 'best' tariff for your area code
- you need leccy counter distribution @ 30% +

Best of luck in your thinking

GunJack

Nice to see you still inhabit MSE Richie

Richie-from-the-Boro

GunJack wrote: »

Nice to see you still inhabit MSE Richie

Regards GunJack.

Nice to know you also are still active on MSE gun jack. You always made common sense helpful suggestions over an extended time on the techie sub-site.

Richie-from-the-Boro

cagreen13 wrote: »

Stored water and heat is about 30% cheaper than normal electric.

I’d love to do more in the way of insulation but I’ve already done cavity walls and loft. When the previous occupant bought the bungalow new in the 50s he filled every crack in the floorboards with sawdust and glue to stop the draughts. Pretty enterprising for the time but now I simply can’t face the thought of trying to get the floorboards up to add insulation! I might well end up without a floor!:rotfl:[/QUOTE]

10 litre minimum INDIRECT CYLINDER, two immersion ports. partL insulated start @ £100 [ish] (see screfix site). non-Dimplex 3.4kW storage heater £300+ [ish]. If your current hot water cylinder has enough gravity a straight swap is easy and cheapest. look for the dimplex book - its here.

Best to you cagreen13.