Heating & Hot water in electric only properties

BWZN93

Hi all!

I'm in the process of purchasing an electric only bungalow and the current set up is a bunch of old night storage heaters, a back boiler behind a coal fire, and an immersion tank. I'm definitely looking to upgrade the property and know this is the first thing to tackle, but having been born and raised in Gas Combi Boiler houses with wet radiators im a little out of my depth. I've read countless websites, looked at loads of options but in the absence of being able to have every company come to the property and quote, im not getting an accurate idea of what is possible.
So far, I've seen infrared radiation fitted behind walls and ceilings, electric combi boiler systems with wet radiators, modern night storage heaters, electric radiators and hot water boilers and everything in between and i'm just not sure which way is going to be a) the most cost efficient install using b) the least amount of space with c) expandable system, as I may be doing a dormer master suite in the future. In addition. i would really like to take advantage of the £5k government eco grant so maybe being able to link up to an air source heat pump or similar.

My EPC is currently a lowly 38 Grade F and I have cavity wall and loft insulation. I want to make some really good improvements to the comfort of the building and don't want to make the wrong decision.

Im lost - and could do with some collective knowledge and advice! 

RelievedSheff

Whatever electric system you install it is going to cost a lot more to run than a gas system. 

The cost per kWh of electric is typically around 13p per kWh. The cost per kWh of gas is typically around 2.5p per kWh.

Is there no way of getting gas to the property?

BWZN93

RelievedSheff said:

Whatever electric system you install it is going to cost a lot more to run than a gas system. 

The cost per kWh of electric is typically around 13p per kWh. The cost per kWh of gas is typically around 2.5p per kWh.

Is there no way of getting gas to the property?

I dont think so - the entire village seems to operate with no gas. I think it might be cost prohibitive upfront to even consider installing a gas line. I have a south facing roof so will be investigating solar power at some stage.

ic

Air source or ground source heat pump could be your answer - but these do require that a home that is very well insulated.  As to how well I don't know - it might be only more modern homes built to modern standards are suitable.  I'm currently buying a house that needs fully insulating and is in need of a new heating system so considering the same options with the new grant scheme.  I haven't been able to find much detail about this, and expect I'm just going to have to get a few local installers out and see what they all say and compare their notes.

Certainly one thing with air or ground to water heat pumps is they aren't able to provide water as hot as a boiler can - meaning you either need much larger radiators or ideally underfloor heating.

They apparently are incredibly efficient, as the electricity isn't used to generate the heat, only collect it.  It should be able to match or beat gas in terms of running cost.  Gas spanks it however on installation costs - assuming you already have gas available.  Add in the cost of installing a connection to a gas mains, and the cost may well level out between the two.

KeithP

Is oil an option?

EssexExile

Have you thought of bulk gas or oil tanks?

tacpot12

Sorting out the insulation first will be the best value; if the house is well insulated, any form of heating is going to be cheaper to run. If the house is well insulated, then an Air Source Heat Pump and underfloor heating would be my first choice. 

dogshome

Depending how long you intend to remain in the property, I'd go for a radiator CH system heated by Oil - The upfront costs won't be cheap as Oil Boilers are dearer than Gas boilers, but they are built to higher standards and last longer.

Heat Pump systems are good, but they are complex and ideally the house should be designed for it from day one

ComicGeek

Mains gas would always be the best solution if available. Still cheaper to run than the current generation of heat pumps.

If not available I would look at a high temperature air source heat pump like Daikin Altherma with rads - underfloor heating is difficult to retrofit and you may not get enough heat out of it anyway. The high temp heat pumps are designed as a retrofit solution to oil boilers, so not that complex.

Or alternatively look at the hybrid oil boiler and air source heat pump package from Grant, it decides what's the best option to run depending on load and external temperature. More expensive initially, but if you're staying there for at least 10 years then will cheaper in the long run.

ic

Bear in mind you might also be eligible for RHI payments for installing a air source heat pump.  I'm not sure if this can be combined with the installation grant however.  https://renewable-heat-calculator.service.gov.uk/

shinytop

JoBatch80 said:

Hi all!

I'm in the process of purchasing an electric only bungalow and the current set up is a bunch of old night storage heaters, a back boiler behind a coal fire, and an immersion tank. I'm definitely looking to upgrade the property and know this is the first thing to tackle, but having been born and raised in Gas Combi Boiler houses with wet radiators im a little out of my depth. I've read countless websites, looked at loads of options but in the absence of being able to have every company come to the property and quote, im not getting an accurate idea of what is possible.
So far, I've seen infrared radiation fitted behind walls and ceilings, electric combi boiler systems with wet radiators, modern night storage heaters, electric radiators and hot water boilers and everything in between and i'm just not sure which way is going to be a) the most cost efficient install using b) the least amount of space with c) expandable system, as I may be doing a dormer master suite in the future. In addition. i would really like to take advantage of the £5k government eco grant so maybe being able to link up to an air source heat pump or similar.

My EPC is currently a lowly 38 Grade F and I have cavity wall and loft insulation. I want to make some really good improvements to the comfort of the building and don't want to make the wrong decision.

Im lost - and could do with some collective knowledge and advice! 

I've just done exactly what you're planning on doing.  We have no gas here and the house is a 4 bed bungalow with not very good double glazing and lots of draughts. We have storage heaters, electric immersion, an economy 7 Aga  and two solid fuel stoves, one of which heats water.  The house is a 4 bed bungalow with not very good double glazing and lots of draughts.  It's going to be more expensive than our previous gas CH house.  We are going to try a winter and take things from there.  Most people around here have oil CH ; that's the safe, tried and tested option.  I looked into heat pumps briefly but they seem a complicated, expensive and potentially unreliable solution and as others have said, need a well insulated-house.  Electric boilers and modern storage heaters are fine but you can't get around the cost of a kilowatt hour of electricity.  Incidentally you can get it for less than 9 pence on E7, and my hot water looks like it's costing about 80p a night.

If I have to spend a lot of money on a heating system it will probably be on oil CH - I'd like to exist on renewable energy but am not going to bankrupt myself in the process.    

You could ask on the Green and Ethical MSE forum; lots of enthusiastic and knowledgeable renewables evangelists there.