1 bed flat with no central heating - options

anewloginapparently

Hi,
I am about to move into a 1960s one bed flat, which is 2nd floor in a 4 story building and has a concrete frame with concrete floors and brick/blockwork cavity walls. 
At present the flat is heated by an electric fireplace in the lounge, and plug in oil radiators elsewhere. 
Hot water is an immersion tank hidden behind a wall in the bathroom. 
The flat itself is single aspect and has a large open plan kitchen/lounge, approximately 7.5m x 4m, a smaller bedroom 3m x 3m, and on the other side of a small hall is an internal bathroom. The lounge has full-length windows at the end, 4m long that are the original aluminium single glazed sliding windows. 
I am thinking about my options which seem to be either:
a) install gas central heating (other flats in the block have had this done). 
b) install electric/electric-oil convection radiators
c) install electric underfloor heating
d) install storage radiators
and
e) install infrared heating
The pro's that I can see for each are:
a) cheaper bills in the long term, can get stylish radiators. 
b) cheaper installation costs, can get some quite stylish radiators now. 
c) cheaper installation, no wall space taken up. 
d) cheaper energy bills if using economy 7
e) instant heat, perhaps cheaper than other electric options?
Whilst the cons are:
a) expensive installation, where would the pipes go within the flat?
b) expensive to run
c) expensive to run, would it be effective at heating the property
d) ugly, expensive to buy, higher energy bills during the day. 
e) unfamiliar technology, no heat retention when turned off, ?expensive to install/run

I just wondered if anyone had any advice?
How high are the installation costs likely to be for each option and the likely running costs?

Gerry1

If you own the flat, get gas and forget everything else.  Far, far cheaper to run, it'll add value to the property and make it easier and quicker to sell, especially when new fossil fuel boilers are banned for new builds in 2025.

If you rent, move ASAP.

anewloginapparently

Any idea on the cost of installing gas central heating. 
I presume it is going to be at least £1k to get SGN to pipe the gas from the ground into my flat then approximately £3k to £4k to install a boiler/central heating system with 4 radiators?

anewloginapparently

I guess the other thing I should mention is I work 9-5 so am out of the house so only really want heating in the evening, or morning when I wake up... Does this mean storage heaters are a waste of money since they'll heat the house when I'm at work but be cold again in the evening when I want heat?

niktheguru

gas, gas, gas, gas, gas, all day long. Forget about the rest. Especially if there is a gas line close to your building. The costs should be affordable rather than astronomical when you are in a village and the pipeline is 800metres away.

Gerry1

anewloginapparently said:

Any idea on the cost of installing gas central heating. 
I presume it is going to be at least £1k to get SGN to pipe the gas from the ground into my flat then approximately £3k to £4k to install a boiler/central heating system with 4 radiators?

Seriously, don't worry about it, if you own the flat Just Do It before the winter.  There's no better time than right now.  You'll get the investment back when you sell it, as well as much lower bills in the meantime.  Many buyers won't even view an all electric flat, it's a red line.

Just look at the rates, probably under 3p/kWh for gas and 10p for cheap E7 and 15p for daytime E7?  Would you buy a car that could only use special petrol costing over £6 per litre?

Gerry1

anewloginapparently said:

I guess the other thing I should mention is I work 9-5 so am out of the house so only really want heating in the evening, or morning when I wake up... Does this mean storage heaters are a waste of money since they'll heat the house when I'm at work but be cold again in the evening when I want heat?

Basically, YES !

Clever modern ones such as Dimplex Quantum aren't quite so bad because they are better insulated and have clever programming and a fan to blow heat out only when it's needed, but running costs will still be several times as expensive as gas.

You also have to be a weather forecaster, if tomorrow is colder than expected then you have to shiver in the evening or use E7 daytime electricity that's even more expensive than standard rate.

Go Gas.  There Is No Alternative.

Reed_Richards

In 2001 I bought a Peugeot 206 described as an "Eco Diesel".  It achieved very good mileage so in that respect the "Eco" claim was correct - but diesel has fallen out of favour now, it is taxed more heavily and no longer seen as remotely "eco".  Could the same thing happen to gas as a heating fuel?  Could someone with gas heating be seen as a polluting dinosaur 10 or 20 years from now?      

Gerry1

Reed_Richards said:

Could someone with gas heating be seen as a polluting dinosaur 10 or 20 years from now?      

That's quite likely given the ban on fossil fuel boilers in new builds from 2025 and the likelihood that new boilers won't be available further down the line, but the OP's new gas supply and boiler will have paid off handsomely long before then.

QrizB

anewloginapparently said:

Any idea on the cost of installing gas central heating. 
I presume it is going to be at least £1k to get SGN to pipe the gas from the ground into my flat then approximately £3k to £4k to install a boiler/central heating system with 4 radiators?

Let's assume that your £5k estimate to install gas CH is correct, and that you can get electric heating installed for £1k. Let's also assume that you'll use 5000kWh per year on heating and DHW (I have no idea if that's accurate but it's a bit less than I used to use in a small all-electric 1970s semi).

E7 electricity, 10p/kWh, £500 per year. Heat input is only available in the wee small hours so you need to get really good at predicting your demand, and if you run out of heat or DHW you need to pay double that rate for top-up heating.

Gas, 2.5p/kWh, £125 per year. A saving of £375 (so you'll recover your up-front costs in 11 years) and it's available at that same rate whenever you need it.

And as others have said, you might make back the investment on an increased property value even if you move out the day after it's installed.

Edited for spelling and typos (I must remember to proof-read before posting).

anewloginapparently

Reed_Richards said:

In 2001 I bought a Peugeot 206 described as an "Eco Diesel".  It achieved very good mileage so in that respect the "Eco" claim was correct - but diesel has fallen out of favour now, it is taxed more heavily and no longer seen as remotely "eco".  Could the same thing happen to gas as a heating fuel?  Could someone with gas heating be seen as a polluting dinosaur 10 or 20 years from now?      

I guess there's a risk of this, but is there also a risk of economy 7 tariffs being scrapped in the future now we're no longer reliant on coal power?