Storage heaters to lpg or oil??

slaird101

Hi there,
In the process of buying a house that is heated by old overnight storage heaters. The nearest gas mains is over 100m away and will cost us thousands so looking at other options. How much would it be to fully install either lpg or oil? Which is better? Would it be better just to replace the old storage heaters for modern versions? Help!! 

Gerry1

Welcome to the forum.

Are you sure that gas wouldn't be a good investment?  If you made significant savings each year the payback period could be relatively short, and it would increase the value of your property and make it quicker and easier to sell.  Many people just won't bother viewing if there's no GCH.

Modern storage heaters would not be more efficient per se because 1kWh electricity in = 1 kWh heat out no matter how tatty they are.  You could make some savings with clever NSHs  by not wasting heat when when it's not needed, but the payback period could be quite long because they're not cheap.

theoretica

Might neighbours be interested in gas too to share the costs?

Ectophile

The cheapest answer will likely be to invest in shiny new storage heaters.  (Proper ones, not the snake oil ones advertised in magazines.)

Any central heating will cost thousands to install.  You need all the radiators, the boiler, and a big oil or gas tank in the garden.

shinytop

Old storage heaters might be OK and the new ones might not be much better.  They may be better insulated and they may be able to release their heat slower.  They won't be significantly cheaper to run though. We have old storage heaters; the house is lovely and warm in the morning and through the day.  It's a bit cool by night time but we have a log burner to warm it up if needed. 

greatcrested

A lot depends how long you plan to be there.

Investing more upfront can be worthwhile  if the benefit (financial and comfort) can be spread over a long time.

I have oil (currently very cheap to buy) and have looked at LPG (a house I nearly bought) - I'd be very wary of LPG. But oil ca go up inprice back to where it was a year ago.

Heat pumps are another option of you're considering long term.

A._Badger

johnwic said:

slaird101 said:

Hi there,
In the process of buying a house that is heated by old overnight storage heaters. The nearest gas mains is over 100m away and will cost us thousands so looking at other options. How much would it be to fully install either lpg or oil? Which is better? Would it be better just to replace the old storage heaters for modern versions? Help!! 

Yes as per point of view you can replace your old with the new one because there are now lots of new amazing variety of storage heaters available online and offline both.

There may be an 'amazing variety'. of storage heaters available these days, but I would need some convincing that they work much better than the ones I've endured over the years. Being the cheapest option for developers, I had them in a succession of flats I lived in. Each generation promised a better balance of output between day and night but none of them delivered it - the heat was fine (often excessive) in the morning but was more or less gone by the evening (which is when you tend to need it),
.
As for a best method, sadly we don't live in a sensible country, where energy prices find their own level influenced by practical considerations and supply/demand. Because of government meddling and incompetence you'd need a crystal ball to predict more than a a few years ahead.

Ectophile

A._Badger said:

johnwic said:

slaird101 said:

Hi there,
In the process of buying a house that is heated by old overnight storage heaters. The nearest gas mains is over 100m away and will cost us thousands so looking at other options. How much would it be to fully install either lpg or oil? Which is better? Would it be better just to replace the old storage heaters for modern versions? Help!! 

Yes as per point of view you can replace your old with the new one because there are now lots of new amazing variety of storage heaters available online and offline both.

There may be an 'amazing variety'. of storage heaters available these days, but I would need some convincing that they work much better than the ones I've endured over the years. Being the cheapest option for developers, I had them in a succession of flats I lived in. Each generation promised a better balance of output between day and night but none of them delivered it - the heat was fine (often excessive) in the morning but was more or less gone by the evening (which is when you tend to need it),
.
As for a best method, sadly we don't live in a sensible country, where energy prices find their own level influenced by practical considerations and supply/demand. Because of government meddling and incompetence you'd need a crystal ball to predict more than a a few years ahead.

There is a wholesale market, though you'd have to be a big business to access it.  The price changes every half an hour, and can vary wildly.  If it's windy and all the wind turbines are running then electricity is almost free.  If the wind drops and someone has to fire up an old coal-fired power station, then the price goes way up.

Imagine trying to keep your house warm if you have no idea what the electricity price is even going to be this evening, let alone for the next few days.

A._Badger

Ectophile said:

A._Badger said:

johnwic said:

slaird101 said:

Hi there,
In the process of buying a house that is heated by old overnight storage heaters. The nearest gas mains is over 100m away and will cost us thousands so looking at other options. How much would it be to fully install either lpg or oil? Which is better? Would it be better just to replace the old storage heaters for modern versions? Help!! 

Yes as per point of view you can replace your old with the new one because there are now lots of new amazing variety of storage heaters available online and offline both.

There may be an 'amazing variety'. of storage heaters available these days, but I would need some convincing that they work much better than the ones I've endured over the years. Being the cheapest option for developers, I had them in a succession of flats I lived in. Each generation promised a better balance of output between day and night but none of them delivered it - the heat was fine (often excessive) in the morning but was more or less gone by the evening (which is when you tend to need it),
.
As for a best method, sadly we don't live in a sensible country, where energy prices find their own level influenced by practical considerations and supply/demand. Because of government meddling and incompetence you'd need a crystal ball to predict more than a a few years ahead.

There is a wholesale market, though you'd have to be a big business to access it.  The price changes every half an hour, and can vary wildly.  If it's windy and all the wind turbines are running then electricity is almost free.  If the wind drops and someone has to fire up an old coal-fired power station, then the price goes way up.

Imagine trying to keep your house warm if you have no idea what the electricity price is even going to be this evening, let alone for the next few days.

Indeed, yes. And, sadly, the lemmings seem either to be oblivious to this prospect or openly encouraging it.