Need help choosing a new heating system!

Robin9

Other than heating what do you reckon you annual electric kWh usage is ?  A typical gas heated semi is said to be about 3000 kWh-  even if yours is half that at say 12p - thats £180 plus standing charges plus VAT - say £275  a year.

Edited was £3000kWh should be 3000kWh

Jules2054

Gerry1 said:

Jules2054 said:

Robin9 said:

Jules - don't forget that your electric will still cost - usage, standing charges - in addition to the LPG costs.   What have you included in your budget ?

The LPG standing charges work out at about £6.67per month, whereas the leccy works out at £6.16 per month, so not much in it! 

Unless you switch to gas lighting and a solar powered laptop you'll still need to pay the electricity standing charges !

I accounted for everything in working out total yearly and monthly costs, earlier on, and it works out that there isn't much difference between running the bulk LPG and the E7 NSHs/immersion heater. That inc all the extra charges like standing charges and tank rental etc.

Jules2054

Robin9 said:

Other than heating what do you reckon you annual electric kWh usage is ?  A typical gas heated semi is said to be about £3000 kWh-  even if yours is half that at say 12p - thats £180 plus standing charges plus VAT - say £275  a year.

That's about right! Its roughly £830 per yr inc charges etc for the LPG, and about £300 for the leccy, Inc charges etc. 
My original costs on all the leccy with E7 still used to come to over £1200. Per yr! 

macman

The capital cost of switching to gas-powered showers will pay for an awful lot of electric-powered showers...unless the electric shower is reaching the end of it's life.

Jules2054

Update! 
So the surveyor came out yesterday, the following is his plan.....
8 rads, condensing combi boiler 28kw, window fans, pipework etc. 
So, I think he's just trying to get more money, as this will all be paid for via the fund!  The reason I say this, is because I don't need a rad in the kitchen, as itll never be used, but he has counted this in! As for the fans in every window, I'm sure they're not compulsory,  or have I got that wrong? 
Boiler is going in the airing cupboard upstairs, after the immersion tank comes out. (The immersion heater isn't working properly....its overheating now, and wont turn off at the switch either, so I imagine the other thermostat is on it's way out too! So I told him, it can come out.  They're ripping the water tank out of the loft as well,  but that's not such a bad thing, as it was in the way of getting onto the loft. They're going to top the insulation up to the the proper level for me, as it was blown in before, because of the lack of access. 
Will I need to buy CO2 monitors for the rooms? 
Also, is a 28kw boiler too big for my needs?  I thought a 20kw would be more than enough? 
T.I.A. 

Gerry1

I wouldn't get rid of the cold water tank, they're not fitted just for the fun of it.

Instantly uninhabitable if the water is cut off for any reason, e.g. a burst water main.

theoretica

You only need a CO2 monitor in the room that actually has something burning - so by the boiler.  My boiler installer provided one.

matelodave

Anything much less than a 28kwh combi boiler will make your hot water run painfully slowly, especially in the winter. 
I guess you've sorted out whether to go for LPG or Oil. I'm not sure why you need lots of fans and TBH you don't really need a co monitor either as boilers are room sealed although you could fit one in the same room as the boiler.

Ideally you should get a programmable thermostat so you've got more control over temperatures and heating times and nowadays TRV are virtually compulsory.

Despite what Gerry says, we had a combi for 15 years, and both my daughters have them (both daughters have husbands and two kids each and their houses have two bath/shower rooms) and neither of them , nor us have had any problems with failing boilers or low, slow flow rates. I'd also suggest that a burst water main would cut off both your hot and cold water supplies whether you had a hot tank or not - just saying.
 You are also less likely to have a frozen pipe problem if the the tank and piping are removed from the loft and TBH if an immersion heater fails you still don't get any hot water so it's a bit of a spurious arguement

Gerry1

matelodave said:

Despite what Gerry says, we had a combi for 15 years, and both my daughters have them (both daughters have husbands and two kids each and their houses have two bath/shower rooms) and neither of them , nor us have had any problems with failing boilers or low, slow flow rates. I'd also suggest that a burst water main would cut off both your hot and cold water supplies whether you had a hot tank or not - just saying. You are also less likely to have a frozen pipe problem if the the tank and piping are removed from the loft..

If you have a cold water tank you can still flush the loo, boil a kettle, do the washing up etc.  If there's no cold water tank then it's an instant hotel.

theoretica

Gerry1 said:

matelodave said:

Despite what Gerry says, we had a combi for 15 years, and both my daughters have them (both daughters have husbands and two kids each and their houses have two bath/shower rooms) and neither of them , nor us have had any problems with failing boilers or low, slow flow rates. I'd also suggest that a burst water main would cut off both your hot and cold water supplies whether you had a hot tank or not - just saying. You are also less likely to have a frozen pipe problem if the the tank and piping are removed from the loft..

If you have a cold water tank you can still flush the loo, boil a kettle, do the washing up etc.  If there's no cold water tank then it's an instant hotel.

Not from my memory of cracked water mains - spend a few pounds on cheap water from the supermarket and use frugally.